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Barcelona – based Ernesto Valverde said Tuesday that Lionel Messi 's fifth place in the 2018 Gold Ball award for the world footballer of the year 2018 is ridiculous.
Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric won the trophy Monday in Paris after leading his club in the Champions League and being named the best player of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The 33-year-old has won the prize for the dominance of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi over the past decade. The Portuguese striker who joined Juventus finished second, while Messi was ranked fifth, following a vote of 180 sports journalists.
Valverde told reporters: "I will not talk about the contradictory elements of the award, and we congratulate Modric on his prize, but Messi's presence in fifth place is ridiculous."
Messi, who has won the trophy five times, led Barcelona to combine the Spanish league and the King's Cup last season, but his country Argentina and leave the World Cup in the eliminatory race losing to France which culminated in the title.
Messi won the Golden Boot of the top scorer in Europe for the fifth time, a record, having scored 34 goals in the Spanish league last season.
Modric scored 753 points, followed by Ronaldo with 476 points and Antoine Grizman of Atletico Madrid with 414.
Kilian Mbabi of France was fourth with 347 points ahead of Messi, who had 280.
On Wednesday, Barcelona host Coltoral Leonisa, third division, in the 32nd stage of the King's Cup, Barca 1-0 imposing and Messi having little chance to play.
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