Ernesto Valverde Calls It 'Absurd' Lionel Messi Placed Fifth for Ballon d'Or

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde has stepped in to defend Lionel Messi after his star came fifth in the Ballon d'Or voting order, calling it absurd the Argentinian ranked outside the top three for the first time since 2006. 

Messi's placement raised some eyebrows in a year when he led Barca to La Liga, the Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup, as well as being the top goalscorer in Spain and Europe's top leagues. 

Valverde spoke to the media and praised Ballon d'Or winner Luka Modric while fighting Messi's corner: "I'm not going to get into that, whether it's right or wrong how an award ended up. I think the people who voted for it have to answer that. Everyone has their own opinion. To us it's absurd. We congratulate Modric on his win."

Football writer Peter Coates gave a rundown of Messi's accomplishments for the 2017-18 campaign, although his Argentina team did fail to impress at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where they exited in the round of 16:

Modric, on the other hand, travelled to Russia and finished as a runner-up with Croatia, which followed a third consecutive UEFA Champions League title win with Real Madrid, in which he was a key component.

The reaction to Messi's fifth place was generally one of incredulity, as shown by Goal:

France Football selects one journalist from 176 participating countries to cast their votes for the top five players of the year, but Barca's talisman appeared to be left out of many's thinking despite his fine year.

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo finished second to former Real team-mate Modric as French World Cup winners Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe took third and fourth, respectively.

There is plenty of reason to argue Modric's case given his achievements for club and country, particularly the latter given the odds stacked against Croatia in the midst of larger teams.

Valverde's remark doesn't argue against the Croat as a winner but decries five-time Messi being left behind somewhat. The South American's consistency hasn't suffered in the past year, as illustrated by OptaJose:

In his usual humble fashion, Messi was eager to distance himself from the Ballon d'Or debate, per Goal:

It's a difficult balance between one's team accolades and personal achievements, of which Messi has both in good number. 

Valverde clearly agrees with the sentiment that Messi deserved to be closer to the top of world football's elite for 2018, though the miss needs only serve as motivation to send the world a reminder in 2019.