Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d'Or 6 times, and since it is the biggest individual award in football, only the best in the field have been able to win it.
Over the past decade, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi have dominated the Ballon d'Or.
In contrast, Luka Modric was the only player to change that tack by winning the award in 2018.
A report by Sportskeeda stated that the 2020-2021 season represented a test for Messi;
In the summer of 2020, the Argentine star wanted to leave Barcelona, but he was denied that, and his close friend and partner Luis Suarez was also abandoned.
The report indicated that Messi took some time to regain his level during the season after what happened last summer, and established himself as the most prominent candidate for the Golden Ball award this year.
The report mentioned 5 reasons why Lionel Messi deserves to win the Ballon d'Or this year (2021).
1. Most awarded man of the match
The Man of the Match award is a good measure of the player's influence on the conduct of the match on a regular basis.
For more than a decade, Lionel Messi has been and continues to be Barcelona's most important player.
The Argentine star won the Man of the Match award 22 times during the 2020-2021 season.
Harry Kane, the English top scorer for Tottenham Hotspur, is ranked second on this list, as he has only managed to win this award 13 times, and this shows how big the difference Messi makes on a regular basis.
2. Absence of prominent candidates
The competition for the Ballon d'Or has opened wide this time, and unlike in recent years - when there was a clear candidate to win the most prestigious individual award in football - there are no nominees this year.
And last year 2020, Robert Lewandowski was expected to win the Ballon d'Or on the back of his brilliance in an amazing season with Bayern Munich and crowning the treble in the League, the Domestic Cup and the Champions League.
Unfortunately for him, the 2020 Ballon d'Or was canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Europe's top trophies are scattered this time around, and as such, no player has a significant advantage over the others.
Messi's achievements in the 2020-2021 season are equal to those of his competitors.
🌉👀 Messi dribbling
Paraguay's Almiron: "Messi is the best player in the world"...
Do you agree with him?
🤩
#Argentina_Paraguay #CopaAmerica #Messi #beINTERACT #Messi pic.twitter.com/REWpaidsjS
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) June 22, 2021
3. Chance to win the Copa America
Argentina is one of the best teams in the Copa America 2021 so far, as its team qualified effortlessly and topped the first group in the group stage, and qualified to face Colombia in the semi-finals, and Messi leads the tournament's top scorer so far with 4 goals.
Argentina appears in the best way to win the title, and to outperform Brazil, a potential opponent in the final, which will enhance Messi's chances of winning the Ballon d'Or.
4. Best performance in 2021
Messi did not give his best performance in the first half of the 2020-2021 season, but he turned the tables by the end of last December and has since set some records;
He scored 28 goals and provided 8 assists in 29 matches during all the competitions he participated in with Barcelona this year.
By December, FC Barcelona was on the verge of being eliminated from the competition for the Spanish Football League title.
However, Lionel Messi's improved performance helped put the club back on the right track.
Furthermore, Messi won the King's Cup with Barcelona in 2021.
5. Golden Boot Award
By scoring 30 goals in 35 matches, Lionel Messi won the Golden Boot in La Liga last season.
Despite exceeding the age of 30, Messi has not lost his fitness and skills, and is still a first-class player and a role model for Barcelona in the 2020-2021 season.
In total, Messi scored 38 goals and provided 14 assists in 47 games during all the competitions he played in the 2020-2021 season.