2010 Ballon d’Or Winner: Lionel Messi win Overshadows World Champion Iniesta

In 2010, Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or for the second time in two years.

For a third season in succession, the Argentinian international had placed in the top two of the competition and would be destined to battle Cristiano Ronaldo for the prize over the next decade.

In some ways, Messi’s victory was no real surprise. His performance levels were steadily rising season after season and with it, both team and individual honours began to pile up.

However, perhaps runner-up Andres Iniesta should have felt aggrieved. The Spaniard delivered a career-defining season and can consider himself unlucky that the accolade slipped through his grasp.

Lionel Messi’s win perhaps overshadowed the achievements of a World Champion.

Barcelona Domination

The 2010 Ballon d’Or ‘podium’ was a clear reflection of Barcelona’s domination of European Football with the top three places all occupied by players from Camp Nou.

The trio in question had been critical to Pep Guardiola’s recent success story, providing the control, vision and creativity essential to realising his ambitions.

Messi secured 22.65% of the vote yet midfield teammates Iniesta (17.36%) and Xavi (16.48%) weren’t far behind.

In fact, Xavi likely placed in third because he was less the typical dynamic attacking player the Ballon d’Or tends to favour.

During the 2009/10 season, Messi’s goal-scoring exploits continued to mesmerise as he scored 47 goals in 53 games across all competitions. He helped Barcelona retain the La Liga title and win the Supercopa de España, as did Iniesta – the Spaniard playing 42 times during the campaign and consistently producing elite performances.

Ironically, the season would end in European disappointment for all three men, Barcelona bombing out of the Champions League following a dramatic semi-final defeat to Jose Mourinho’s resolute Inter Milan side.
Iniesta’s Moment

It was a moment in time that arguably should have handed Andres Iniesta this Ballon d’Or.

The 2010 World Cup held mixed fortunes for the Spanish midfielder and his fellow teammate Messi.

For all of the Argentine’s brilliance, he couldn’t inspire his country and despite Messi’s efforts, Argentina crashed out at the Quarter-final stage following a 4-0 loss to Germany. In 2010, he won ten caps yet only scored two goals.

But for Iniesta, it was a completely different story.

Across the calendar year, he appeared 15 times for Spain and even contributed three goals from midfield. During the tournament, he scored twice, once against Chile in their closing group game yet his most famous strike arrived in the final itself – Iniesta drifting into the Dutch box to smash home a 116th minute winner!

The 2010 Ballon d’Or could easily have been awarded to Andres Iniesta.

He would have joined previous high-profile World Cup winners to also claim the Ballon d’Or such as Cannavaro in 2006, Zidane in 1998 and Lothar Matthäus back in 1990.

Instead, Messi would push on from this latest victory and claim another five accolades on his way to becoming one of the greatest players the game has ever witnessed.

2010 Ballon d’Or Top 20

Trivia

In April 2010, Lionel Messi scored four goals against English side Arsenal during a Champions League Quarter-final second-leg match. Two years later he would go one better, scoring five times vs Bayer Leverkusen.

In 2010, Andres Iniesta was named in the FIFA FIFPro World 11, UEFA Team of the Year and FIFA World Cup Dream Team – going on to become the Champions League’s top assist provider in 2010/11.

Xavi scored five goals in ‘other’ competitions across 2009/10 – the most of his club career – netting in the Supercopa de Espana, UEFA Super Cup and two in the 2010 FIFA World Club Cup final.