Barcelona striker Leo Messi says team mate Luis Suarez deserves to be honoured alongside him and Neymar, adding he doesn’t want to detract from Cristiano Ronaldo’s achievements.
The Argentina star picked up the Best Player and Best Striker award at the La Liga Awards in Barcelona earlier this week – pipping long time rival Ronaldo.
It comes in the same week that Messi and Ronaldo were joined by Neymar on the final shortlist for the Ballon d’Or, with the winner announced on January 11 at a ceremony in Zurich.
Barcelona won the treble last season, with the so called MSN firing the Catalan side to glory on all fronts. Ronaldo, meanwhile, was part of the Real side that missed out on major honours although he did score a career best 61 goals in the campaign.
Speaking after picking up his La Liga award, Messi said: “I’m happy to be once again among the top three. Happy to be with Neymar. I’d have liked to be on [the] podium with Neymar and Luis. Luis Suarez deserved also to be among the top three, but do not detract from Cristiano Ronaldo, who also deserved it.”
He added: “I’m happy for these awards. I think after we won the titles we deserved this recognition. We’re grateful and happy.”
