Ballon d'Or: see Ronaldo's reaction after he lost to Messi

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The three time world best player had high hopes of retaining his title for the fourth time but was disappointed at the end of the day.

He had a good season last year but his counterpart, Messi was at the top of every game he played. Messi's award was no less than he deserves.

The world’s greatest player of all time.

At merely 28 years old and likely still in the midst of his prime, Messi has transcended his sport in a way nobody else ever had before. And long before his body of work is completed, it seems certain now that he'll be remembered as the greatest of all time.

It was formerly disputed that Messi was greater than Pele but after he came out as the new King of football at ballon d'Or yesterday, surely there's no debate to be had any longer. Let's take an honest assessment of things and consider all the competitions both players have been involved in.

Throughout Pele's career as a football player, he never played in an European competition where the best players in the world battled for top spot. He only faced international competition every four years (at the World Cup). 

Messi on the other hand plays in Europe every week facing the toughest competitions ever and still he has been the key player in the team not only by scoring but also creating chances. The little dribbler has won the Champions League four times and La Liga seven times – and counting. He has also lead his club side to win six trophies during the course of one year. Though he is yet to win the World Cup, he has led his team to the 2014 World Cup and 2015 Copa America finals. Messi has truly proven to be unmatchable.

It's been established for some time now that Ronaldo, while also surely one of the best ever, isn't quite up to his level either.

At the very top, there is only Messi. He was the best in 2015, and he's been better than every other man in any year before it.

A preview of his records in 2015 are listed below:
*61 games, 52 goals and 26 assists.

*A goal every 101 minutes and an assist every 202 minutes.

*Best minutes-per-goal rate - 80 - of anyone scoring a minimum of 10 goals across Europe's top five leagues during 2015.

*Directly involved in 49 goals in La Liga - 34 scored and 15 assists - which was the joint-most with Ronaldo in 2015 across the top five European leagues.

*Scored in all six club tournaments in 2015, as Barcelona won five of them.

Congratulations! to Messi. we hope to see him beat his records this 2016. 

Can Messi be compared to Pele?

Comparing their personal records and achievements. 

Lionel Messi is considered the best player in the world and rated by many in the sport as the greatest of all time, Messi is the only football player in history to win the FIFA Ballon d'Or four times, all of which he won consecutively, and the first player to win three European Golden Shoes. With Barcelona he has won seven La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles, as well as three Copa del Rey titles. A prolific goalscorer, Messi holds the Guinness World Records titles for most goals scored in La Liga (292), a La Liga season (50), a calendar year (91), a Champions League match (five), and most Champions League seasons (five). Messi has scored a total of 436 goals in 533 appearances which means he has a scoring ability of 81.8%.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento popularly  known as Pele is widely regarded to be the greatest player of all time. In 1999, he was voted World Player of the Century by theInternational Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). The same year, France Football asked their former Ballon d'Or winners to choose the Football Player of the Century; they selected Pelé. In 1999, Pelé was elected Athlete of the Century by theIOC, and Time named him in their list of100 most influential people of the 20th century. In 2013 he received the FIFA Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur in recognition of his career and achievements as a global icon of football.

According to the IFFHS, Pelé is the most successful league goal scorer in the world, with 541 league goals. In total Pelé scored 1281 goals in 1363 games, including unofficial friendlies and tour games, for which he was listed in the Guinness World Records for most career goals scored in football. Pele's scoring ability throughout his career was 94%.

After considering the statistics, I must say that Messi is yet to meet Pele's record and therefore, he can't be compared to Pele.
However, these are my opinions on the issue. You can add yours if you think otherwise or share if you agree with me. Thanks.