‘Ballon d`Or should always be Messi`s’

Although it hasn`t been long since Cristiano Ronaldo received his fourth Ballon d`Or, Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli has weighed in on the argument and said that there is only one player who really deserves to win it every year: Lionel Messi.

The Barcelona man finished second again to his Portuguese contemporary, the same position as in each of Ronaldo`s other three wins.

"Cristiano is deserving of any award that can be awarded to him, but it seems to me that there is a big difference between Messi and him," Sampaoli said.

"The rest need to compete for another ball, because the golden one will always be Messi`s."

Ronaldo was also at the centre of another comment made by Sampaoli, this time pertaining to the goal he scored for Real Madrid at the Club World Cup.

"Technologies are turning football into a new sport, it is not the football that we were used to," he said.

"Every new rule has to do more with technology than with game, which is going to make it less dynamic, less intense and I don`t really agree with that."

Source: Marca