ballon d'or

Lamine Yamal wins Kopa Trophy as best under-21 men's player

Former Barcelona star Messi awarded 7th trophy while Pedri named best footballer under 21

A terrible week for Espanyol has seen them move to bottom of La Liga, as Messi puts on a goals show celebrating his Ballon d’Or

Barcelona captain overtakes rival Cristiano Ronaldo in the all-time list

Barça captain is rumoured to have told Neymar Jr. he would leave the club “in two years,” and “only together” can they win the Champions League

In 2012 Messi became the first and only player to ever take home the Ballon d'Or four times. Now he has extended his unrivaled feat to five. Messi, Neymar, Alves and Iniesta were named to FIFA FIFPro World XI for 2015. All four made the prestigious team, which was voted on by nearly 25,000 professional footballers from 70 countries. Luis Enrique has won the Coach of the Year award at the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala in the Kongresshaus, Zurich on Monday. It comes in recognition of an incredible 2015 in which he led FC Barcelona to five out of six titles. The Barça boss received 31.08% of the votes, ahead of Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola who received 22.97%.

Messi is going for his fifth Ballon d'Or, a jaw-dropping feat considering the fact that in the history of the award, he is the only person to have won it more than three times. Four other players have won it exactly three times, Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, Marco van Basten and Cristiano Ronaldo, while just five other players have ever won it twice. Messi won his unprecedented fourth straight Ballon d'Or in 2013 and is now looking to distance himself from the pack. Messi and Ronaldo have scooped up every Ballon d'Or for the last seven years. That number is almost certain to rise to eight this Monday.

Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr. will face off with Cristiano Ronaldo for the award for world's best player in 2015. The two Barça players both were the main drivers of FC Barcelona’s success, forming the so-called trident alongside Suárez, who was another semi-finalists, together with Barça players Andrés Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic and Javier Mascherano. Leo Messi’s four Ballons d’Or are the most in history and he has never been left off the podium since 2007, when he was third. The FC Barcelona coach, Luis Enrique Martínez is also in the mix after winning the treble and the European Super Cup in his first season is contender along with Pep Guardiola and Jorge Sampaoli. The winners will be announced on 11 January at a gala to be held in Monaco. 

Four Barça players have been shortlisted for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2014. They are Leo Messi, Neymar Jr, Andrés Iniesta and Javier Mascherano. FIFA and France Football magazine announced on Tuesday morning those players nominated for the award, which is given to the best player of the calendar year. The final decision will be taken by the coaches and captains from every single national team around the world as well as by journalists from France Football via a system of votes. On the 1^st of December the final shortlist of the three finalists will be made public. The winner of the Ballon d’Or 2014 will be revealed on the 12^th of January, 2015 during a gala ceremony which will take place in Zurich.

FC Barcelona has issued an official response to the sanction imposed by the FIFA Disciplinary Commission on the Royal Federation of Spanish Football and the Catalan club for infractions related to the transfer and registration of players under the age of 18. Barça will be presenting an appeal to the FIFA and should it be necessary, it will take the resulting resolution to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The FIFA has banned the Catalan club from signing new players during an entire year. This unusual sanction would leave FC Barcelona without being able to hire a much needed new keeper and centre-back. The Catalan club defends his youth training system, which has given players such as Leo Messi, awarded on many occasions by the FIFA.

The Barça forward, who has won the last four editions of the Ballon d'Or, finished second behind Cristiano Ronaldo and ahead of Frank Ribéry. Messi has finished in the top three for seven consecutive years and has won the last four editions of the prize. After the Gala, Leo Messi said, “it’s a pleasure to be here for a seventh consecutive year. It’s very nice.” When asked about Cristiano Ronaldo, he said: “before anything else I want to congratulate him. He had a great year and his emotion is very understandable.” The 26-year-old Argentinian garnered 24.72% of the vote, while Ronaldo got 27.99% and Ribéry got 23.36%. This is the highest vote percentage of any second-place finish since the FIFA World Player and Ballon d’Or were consolidated into one award.

FC Barcelona’s star Leo Messi has again received recognition as one of the very best! The Argentinean has been selected as one of the three final candidates for FIFA's 2013 Ballon D'Or award, together with Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid). Messi has won the award for the last four years. The 2013 winner will be announced in Zurich on January 13.

FC Barcelona Manager is wary Málaga despite the 1 to 3 result at La Rosaleda this Sunday: "It will be more difficult because our rival will play with the result". Vilanova called on the Camp Nou faithful to attend the match: "We have the chance to watch a game worthy of the Champions League. Excitement is guaranteed, in addition Messi will offer up his fourth Ballon d'Or". On Pep Guardiola's future, the Barça manager said that "it's great news [that he's coming back]. Football needs the best coach to manage again".