To most football fans out there, Xavi must have had several bottles of alcohol before he spilled those words out. Speaking in a recent interview, the Barcelona legend stated that World Cup performances of Ballon D’Or nominees should be the criterion for picking this year’s winner.
Asked who his top 3 would be if he had been Spain’s captain, the midfield ace picked Lionel Messi, Philipp Lahm and Javier Mascherano and left Real Madrid goal machine, Cristiano Ronaldo out.
“The thing is, Cristiano didn’t do much in the World Cup and I think that in the year of the World Cup that defines much of the season. He added
And on Messi’s chances of winning, the 34 year-old said, “He is the best player in the world and we have to live with these responses. But I see him happy and content. Very different to last year when he suffered that beastly injury that kept him off the field of play for two months, also with the World Cup on the horizon, it wasn’t an easy year for anybody. But this year he’s at the top, we are really enjoying it with him on the pitch. He’s performing like the best Messi.”