Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

Joel Omotto and agencies

Sadio Mane finished 339 points behind eventual winner Lionel Messi in the 2019 Ballon d’Or. But did he deserve more?

In the final vote where Argentina and Barcelona’s Messi won his sixth Ballon d’Or with 686 votes while Mane’s Liverpool team-mate Dutchman Virgil Van Dijk second (679) and Portugal and Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo third with 476, the Senegalese forward garnered 347 votes but the statistics suggest he could have finished better than some of those above him.

While Messi scored 51 goals in all competitions but won only La Liga, Mane had 26 and it is the impact of his goals that has left many with a bitter taste after Monday’s awards.

Of the 26, 22 were in the English Premier League (EPL), making Mane joint top scorer alongside Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang while four came from the UEFA Champions League.

Mane’s 22 goals pushed Liverpool closer to the EPL title, missing it out by just a point to Manchester City while his Champions League goals, although fewer than Messi’s (12) and Ronaldo’s (6) had the most impact. 

He scored two against Bayern Munich in the Champions League last 16, one in the quarter-final against FC Porto while playing a crucial role in that  4-0 home demolition of Barcelona in the semi-final before they beat Tottenham 2-0 in the final to emerge victorious. 

Mane’s honours

On the international front, mane’s three goals helped Senegal reach the Africa Cup of Nations final before losing to Algeria while Messi could only manage one as Argentina exited the 2019 Copa America at the semi-finals stage.

To give more ammunition to ‘Team Mane’, the Senegalese was man of the match in August’s UEFA Super Cup when he scored twice as Liverpool drew 2-2 with Chelsea before winning it on penalties, meaning apart from the goals, he even collected more medals than Messi.

“A scandal, pure and simple,” said former Newcastle and Aston Villa full back Habib Beye who accused the Ballon d’Or 2019 jury of racism after Mane placed fourth. 

Other contenders

“Could you say that Messi is one of the greatest players in the history of football? Yes. Could you say that Messi had the best 2019? No.

Maybe people will see this as victim culture. But he [Mane] is African and that is why he is fourth. You can look at it in every way, but that is why he is fourth,” added the Senegalese. 

By contrast, Van Dijk was part of the best EPL defence as Liverpool conceded just 22 goals and finished second in the UEFA Nations League while Ronaldo scored 28 in all competitions, winning Serie A and the Nations League titles.Additional information from the Independent