Barcelona star Lionel Messi creates plan to get one over on Cristiano Ronaldo

LIONEL MESSI reportedly believes his achievements with Barcelona might not be enough for him to claim the Ballon d’Or ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Messi is widely regarded as one of the world’s best ever players and has taken home the prestigious award on five occasions.

He saw his La Liga rival Ronaldo go level with him last year though following an impressive season at Real Madrid.

Lionel Messi has better prospects of winning trophies than Ronaldo this season due to Barcelona still being in with a shout of a treble.

But reports in Spain suggest the 30-year-old feels the World Cup will be where he can really stake his claim to win this year’s Ballon d’Or.

According to Don Balon, Messi has devised a plan to get one over on Cristiano Ronaldo and claim the top prize.

And that involves guiding Argentina to glory at this summer’s World Cup in Russia.

Messi apparently feels Argentina have the quality to secure glory at what may be his final World Cup.

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Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or last year

Messi supposedly believes Portugal, by contrast, can only go as far as the quarter-finals at best.

Winning the World Cup would help cement Messi’s claim to being the best player in the world.

And it should therefore see him win enough votes to snatch the Ballon d’Or from Ronaldo’s grasp.