Lionel Messi won his first Ballon d'Or, cementing himself as the only player to win as many individual awards. He had already made the record books with his fourth win back in 2012, but Cristiano Ronaldo had crept within one with two straight wins in 2013 and 2014. However, that mountain will be harder to climb now for the Portuguese player who is seemingly starting his decline.

Messi's win was no major surprise as he enjoyed a remarkable year with Barcelona, winning five trophies over the course of 2015, including the famed treble. He managed to move to the right wing and show off his dominant play for his club from that spot, facilitating the domination of the MSN which also featured Neymar and Luis Suarez.

More importantly, Messi also led Argentina to the final of the Copa America. Despite losing in the final on penalties, no one could blame Messi for his display as the Argentine was the catalyst for his nation in what proved to be a tough loss in the clincher.

For Messi, this was arguably his second "worst" Ballon d'Or-winning year of the five. His "worst" (from a statistical standpoint) is the 2009 award when he only scored 41 goals for club and country across 64 games. That said, he won a treble to start the season, replicating the effort he had this year. Barcelona also won the UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and Spanish Super Cup that same year with Messi scoring in two of those three competitions.

A year later, he scored 60 goals and 17 assists in 64 games, but Barcelona only managed the Spanish League title that season among the major trophies. He had a pitiful World Cup in South Africa, but that did not deter from his contributions at the club level or his high goalscoring rate.

In 2011, Messi was outscored by rival Cristiano Ronaldo in all competitions for club and country, but still led his club to the first place in the Spanish League and Champions League. Messi still scored 59 goals and an unbelievable 36 assists across 70 games that season, emphasizing just how crucial he was to Barcelona's overall game.

The following year was undoubtedly Messi's finest from an individual standpoint as he scored a tremendous 91 goals across 69 games, a feat that had never been accomplished and is unlikely to be repeated anytime soon. Barcelona however did not win a single trophy that season, the only such instance that has coincided with a Messi Ballon d'Or win.

Ronaldo finished second in the voting with Neymar ending up third. For Ronaldo, 2015 was disappointing as he scored far more than Messi, but ultimately saw no trophies for his team. More importantly, Ronaldo finished 2015 poorly, scoring just 25 of his 57 goals from August through December; in the past the superstar had racked up over 30 goals down the stretch. What was more crucial however was that Ronaldo piled on hat tricks in games against weaker opponents, but failed to put the ball in the net against top competition at the start of the 2015-16 season.

Neymar should likely have gotten second place honors as he was the best of the three down the stretch, leading Barcelona on his own with Messi out injured.

Of course this trophy was likely decided this past summer after Messi picked up the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. At that point, his candidacy as the favorite was all but decided.

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