NEYMAR
The Barcelona star said team-mate and five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Lionel Messi, will receive France Football’s 2016 prize next week, and not Cristiano Ronaldo. He said Messi deserves to win the Ballon d’Or.
Neymar / Messi / Ronaldo
Ronaldo is the overwhelming favourite to win France Football’s 2016 Ballon d’Or prize, which will be announced next week, after helping Madrid win last season’s Champions League.
The 31-year-old also guided Portugal to their Euro 2016 success as he ended the 2015-16 campaign with 51 goals in all competitions for Madrid, while he scored three at the European Championship in France.
Neymar, however, insists his Barca team-mate, Messi should receive the award after seeing the Spanish giants retain their La Liga title.
He told GOL, “I don’t know who will win, for me there is only one who’s the best, that’s Messi.
“Ronaldo is a great player, he’s world class and has been for many years and I respect him.
“But Messi is the one who deserves it, for me.”
Messi has scored 20 goals in all competitions for Barcelona in the current campaign, with nine of those coming in La Liga and 10 in the Champions League.
Ronaldo has netted a league-high 10 goals in La Liga as Madrid top the standings, but has only netted twice in Europe this season.
