Well deserved win for the man who occupied centerstage in Barca’s glorious treble – The Champions League, the Liga title, and the Copa Del Rey.
He pushed out Cristiano Ronaldo beating him handily with a record 473 votes to 233 votes reversing last years results when Ronaldo beat him 446 votes to 281 votes to win the title. Messi becomes the first Barca player since Ronaldinho won it in 2005 and the first Argentinian to win Europe’s player of the year award.
Messi also led a trio of Barca players with Xavi (170) and Andres Iniesta (149) in the top four. If you count Samuel Eto’o, now with Milan who was fifth (75) in the ballot, then Barca finished with four in the five top spots.
For the record, Messi top scored in the CL with nine goals including the second goal against Man Utd in the final. His impressive form carried over to the Liga where he scored 23 goals in and 6 goals in the Copa Del Rey.
He is also the sixth Barcelona player to win the award. Apart from him and Ronaldinho, the other winners are Rivaldo (1999), Hristo Stoichkov (1994), Johan Cruyff (1973, 1974), and Luis Suarez (1960).