Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi captured the inaugural Fifa Ballon d’Or award. This is the first time this award has been presented as the Ballon d’Or (former European Footballer of the Year award) and the FIFA World Player of the Year award have been merged.

Messi beat out fellow Barcelona teammates Xavi and Andres Iniesta both of whom had strong years for club and country. I was rooting for Xavi as I think this may have been his last chance at the award considering he is now 30. I felt more than just for sentimental reasons that he would have been an excellent choice. He is the heartbeat and maestro for two of the most dominant teams from this past calendar year – Barcelona and Spain. I think Andres Iniesta is a very good player but I was disappointed to not see Wesley Sneijder in the final three after winning the treble with Inter Milan and leading Netherlands to the World Cup finals.

That being said, it is hard to argue against Messi, who scored a remarkable 60 goals for club and country in the 2010 calendar year and is widely regarded as one of the most gifted footballers ever. Messi joins some elite company in winning back to back player of the year awards.

Johan Cruyff, in 1973 and 74, was the first to do it. Cruuyff, who was often called ‘Pythagoras in boots’ for the beauty and precision of his angled passes, is still the standard by which many judge what a ‘complete’ footballer should be. Not only did he have great vision and passing but his overall technical ability, speed, acceleration and dribbling set him apart. You can watch the Dutch master at work in this YouTube video.

Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan landed the Ballon d’Or in 1978 and 1979. Bayern Munich legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had his best years in 1980 and 1981 including back-to-back Ballon d’Or awards and winning the 1980 European Championships with West Germany.

However, UEFA president Michel Platini did one better than all the rest by winning three consecutive awards between 1983 and 1985. Why did he win three in a row ? For starters, he finished top scorer in Serie A for three consecutive seasons (1982–83, 1983–84, and 1984–85). He won the scudetto (Italian championship) with Juventus in 1984, the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1984, the 1984 UEFA Super Cup, the European Cup in 1985 and the 1985 Intercontinental Cup. He also won Euro 1984 with France for good measure. The only thing that eluded Platini during his career was a World Cup win. He came close with France in 1986 when they finished 3rd. Watch Platini in action.

For a bonus treat, here are highlight videos for Messi, Xavi & Iniesta. Oh what the heck, here’s one of Sneijder also. Enjoy!

It is quite early to discuss next season’s Champions League particularly with the World Cup looming ahead but Inter’s historic treble was much more than a great achievement. It proved once again how difficult it is to repeat as a champion in Europe’s elite club competition. For the Nerazzurri winning the Champions League is the ultimate experience having waited for more than four decades to repeat as champions of Europe.

President Massimo Moratti helped fund the building of the Nerazzurri squad and brought in Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho with the specific objective of bringing European glory to Milan considering the current Serie A title holder have not won the Champions League since the 1960s. Previous boss Roberto Mancini succeeded in breaking the dominance of Juventus and Milan since the early 1990s but failed to combine domestic success with an extended run in Europe’s elite competition as he never guided the Nerazzurri to the Final.

Mourinho succeeded in winning Serie A, Coppa Italia and the Champions League yet he is racing to the exit door leaving the Nerazzurri in a delicate situation following the best season in the club’s history. Players such as Maicon and Diego Milito are now being linked with a move to Real Madrid which is Mourinho’s likely destination. It is only time before Mourinho is confirmed as the boss in Madrid unless he has a change of heart and opts to stay with the Nerazzurri. Other clubs are beginning to assess their chances of luring some of Inter’s key players to leave the peninsula as Arsenal have reportedly shown interest in goalkeeper Julio Cesar while Manchester City are looking to capture midfielder Esteban Cambiasso. These reports might not become reality but all these claims are a major distraction for a club celebrating a historic treble and with some of the star players headed to South Africa 2010.

Assuming Mourinho and some of the players jump ship, the Nerazzurri will be losing some key components while skipper Javier Zanetti is only getting older despite his consistent displays. Zanetti deserves credit for his fighting spirit and for putting in solid performances time and again despite his age. Below is a brief look at some of Inter’s main competitors for next season:

Barcelona: The former holders were ousted by Inter and will be looking to regain their lost title. Barca are one of the most talented teams in the world with Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez leading the charge. Barca have added a star name in the shape of striker David Villa while the Catalans remain in pursuit of Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas. If they do sign Fabregas then the team will likely start the next La Liga season and Champions League campaign as one of the favourites.

Real Madrid: The record winners of the Champions League will welcome with open arms Mourinho who has made it clear he will only leave the Nerazzurri for Madrid. In Madrid he will have greater individual talent to work with yet less of a cohesive unit and a weaker team spirit. Mourinho will be motivated to turn this team of stars into a strong and unified squad. Los Galacticos already have former Milan idol Kaka and world record signing Cristiano Ronaldo in their ranks but it would not be a surprise if Mourinho asked for Maicon and Diego Milito to be signed from Inter. If they do, then Los Galacticos will be considered as a firm favourite considering they only missed on La Liga title by three points and many forget it does take time for news players to gel together.

Chelsea: Ironically Mourinho was shown the doors at Stamford Bridge because he failed to bring European glory to the London club but he did punish his former employers by eliminating them in the knockout stages of the Champions League by beating them twice home and away. Chelsea hired former Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti and the Italian succeeded in leading the Blues to a historic double by winning the Premier League and FA Cup in his first season in charge. Ancelotti made it clear his main objective for next season is to repeat the domestic double and to win in Europe. While Chelsea have a strong squad with experience and talent, the players as individuals are below the talent level of Spanish giants Real and Barca.

Bayern Munich: Bayern proved they are a solid team after a slow start to the season and the final in Madrid was perhaps a small representation of their season as they only began to show their potential after conceding the first goal to Inter’s hero Milito. The Bavarians will have Arjen Robben (despite rumours linking him with Juventus;  just unlikely to happen for a number of reasons) and French star Franck Ribery will apparently return after missing the Champions League final due to suspension. The Germans are a solid group but like Chelsea they are not on par with Real and Barca if individuals are compared on a position by position basis.

Manchester United: Manchester have one of the best managers in Sir Alex Ferguson but he can certainly be stubborn leading him to make the odd mistake here and there, particularly when it comes to offloading certain players or refusing to bring in the appropriate players to replace outgoing stars. The Red Devils did not replace Cristiano Ronaldo and their challenge for Chelsea in the Premiership and before that in the Champions League tie against Bayern  faltered once it became clear Wayne Rooney is carrying injury. If Manchester do not sign a couple of solid players, in particular one goal scorer to complement Rooney, then they will likely fall short in the early knockout stages with perhaps a quarter-final spot at best.

There are other less likely contenders but the strongest ones would be Italian duo Roma and Milan yet the two sides have a number of limitations such as their restricted budget for bringing in players and in the case of the Rossoneri an aging squad. Milan will need Brazilian stars Ronaldinho and Alexandre Pato to stay and will hope a capable coach will take charge at Milanello to promote a few promising players from the youth sector and sign a number of quality players to reinforce the team. As for Roma they have do not have a deep bench and their first team is often riddled with injuries due to the age of some key players such as Francesco Totti. It is unlikely either squad will win the Champions League but they can play the role of a spoiler if their stars remain healthy and fit.

It is quite hard to repeat in the Champions League as shown by the famous Milan side in the 1990s which dismantled Barca 4-0 in an epic encounter only to loss the next year in the final to Ajax Amsterdam who in turn were defeated the following year by Juventus. The Bianconeri would go on to play in two more consecutive finals yet the curse of repeating would also prove to be their downfall despite having the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Alessandro Del Piero (at his peak).

La Liga leaders Barcelona will travel to Milan to take on Inter in the highly anticipated clash between two of the best teams left in the European competitions. The current champions Barca rely heavily on midfield schemer Xavi Hernandez and superstar Lionel Messi while Inter will be attempting to reach the final in Madrid to win their third title in the top European event.

The Nerazzurri are currently second in Serie A behind Roma but the two clubs are only separated by a single point. Inter will be depending on their attacking line composed of Diego Milito and Samuel Eto’o as well as playmaker Wesley Sneijder to threaten the Barca goal. However, the key to Inter’s success in this tie will be the performance of the defensive line composed of Brazilian duo Maicon and Lucio along with Argentine Walter Samuel and the returning Romanian left-back Cristian Chivu. Lucio and Samuel in particular will be responsible for keeping in check former Inter star Zalatan Ibrahimovic and the extremely talented Messi.

Inter’s Esteban Cambiasso will be asked to help the midfield contain the talented Xavi who is one of the best at creating scoring opportunities, sending players towards goal with incisive passing and launching probing balls towards the penalty area of Barca’s opponents. Messi might get the majority of the plaudits but Xavi is the key architect behind most of Barca’s attacks as he showed time and again during El Clasico when he assisted on both goals scored by the Catalans.

Finally, Josep Guardiola will be facing Inter boss Jose Mourinho who is perhaps as crucial as the players for the Nerazzurri considering his tactics and motivational skills are highly regarded. Mourinho was credited with the two victories over former club Chelsea and was then praised for his strategy against CSKA Moscow. It remains to be seen if Mourinho can conjure something to contain the talented Messi and halt the progress of the Catalan club.

While this might be overlooked by many, it is important to note Mourinho assisted Bobby Robson when the Englishman was the coach at Barcelona. Mourinho might downplay this fact but deep inside such a connection drives the Portuguese just as witnessed during the clash between Inter and his former club Chelsea. For Mourinho to emerge victorious it will be quite difficult but it starts with containing Messi and restricting the passing options of Xavi.

With Inter challenging on three fronts this tie might demand and exhaust the squad’s energy resulting in the loss of Serie A and Coppa Italia. As for Barca, the Catalans are a more talented team and if they can achieve a beneficial result in Milan such as a win, a draw or even a narrow defeat other than by the score of 1-0 for Inter, then they have a great opportunity of sealing the tie at the Camp Nou.

Barca will host Arsenal this week in the return leg of the Champions League as the Spaniards continue their quest to retain their crown as European champions. Barcelona appeared headed to an easy 2-0 victory before Arsenal mounted a comeback to salvage a home draw.

The two sides will suffer consequences as a result of the incidents from the entertaining first-leg with Cesc Fabregas suffering from an injury which ended his season while Barca will miss their captain Carles Puyol for the return match due to the red-card after he conceded the late penalty which Fabregas duly converted. The loss of Fabregas cannot be underestimated because he is the beating heart of the club, the undisputed leader and the orchestrator of most of the Arsenal attacks. The Spaniard, who ironically started his career in Barca’s youth ranks and moved to Arsenal without playing a single game for the first-time, has scored 15 goals in the Premiership and assisted on 13 others. No one is close to the midfielder in either ranking with Andrei Arshavin the closest having scored 9 goals in the league.

No doubt the statistics show the loss of Fabregas is a massive one for the Gunners and there is a possibility Arshavin might miss as well leaving Arsenal with few weapons to cause Barca any major concerns. The hosts will miss Puyol and Gerard Pique but their best strategy will be to rely on their offensive weapons to keep Arsenal at bay and locked in a more defensive stance. Barca’s choice will be to attack and this should force the Gunners to focus on their defensive duties.

With Lionel Messi leading the charge and having looked ordinary for once in recent weeks when the two sides played in London, it would be hard to bet against the star player performing some magical moves and even tormenting the Arsenal back-line. Messi is fortunate to have midfield duo Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta who can supply some incisive and quality passing as well as maintain the ball when required.

Arsenal will also be without William Gallas  and the performance of their goalkeeper Manuel Almunia this season has been inconsistent at best.  On the other side Barca have announced their Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored both goals for the visitors  in the first-leg, will miss the mid-week clash against Arsenal.

Considering injuries and suspensions as well as the quality and depth of the two sides, it would be fair to say Barca have the edge and this was outlined with the favourable 2-2 draw in London. Barca will likely advance unless some decisive incidents and officiating decisions will go Arsenal’s way during the match.

The draw for the group stage of the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League was held Thursday in Monaco. Last season’s finalists face some tough going but they are not alone in that regard. FC Barcelona will begin their trophy defence in Group F with games against FC Internazionale Milano, FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Rubin Kazan while some long away trips are looming for Manchester United FC who were drawn in a group with CSKA Moscow and Besiktas.

The Inter – Barca matchup is intriguing as the two clubs conducted a massive swap of star strikers over the summer. Heading to Italy was Samuel Eto’o (plus a massive amount of cash to Inter) while Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined Barcelona. Another player who was the centre of a big money transfer will also be given an immediate return to his old stomping grounds. Brazilian playmaker Kaka and his Real Madrid galactico pals will face AC Milan. Marseille and FC Zurich round out Group C but have to be hoping for some major upsets if they have any chance of advancing. Real Madrid will have all the motivation they need with this season’s final being hosted at their home stadium.

Bayern Munich, who have struggled out of the gate this season, are up against Juventus, French champions Bordeaux and Maccabi Haifa in Group A. Based on their current form, I just cannot see Bayern progressing. It’s much too early for predictions but the German-based side has much work to do under new manager Louis Van Gaal if they are to improve results.

The groups are as follows:
Group A: Bayern Munich, Juventus, Bordeaux, Maccabi Haifa.
Group B: Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Besiktas, Wolfsburg.
Group C: AC Milan, Real Madrid, Marseille, FC Zurich
Group D: Chelsea, Porto, Atletico Madrid, APOEL Nicosia
Group E: Liverpool, Lyon, Fiorentina, Debreceni
Group F: Barcelona, Inter Milan, Dynamo Kiev, Rubin Kazan
Group G: Sevilla, Rangers, Stuttgart, Unirea Urziceni
Group H: Arsenal, AZ Alkmaar, Olympiakos, Standard Liege

Prior to the draw, UEFA awarded Barca forward Lionel Messi the 2009 European Footballer of the Year and Best Forward, while his teammate Xavi Hernández was not surprisingly named last season’s Top Midfielder. Manchester United’s Edwin Van der Sar was named Top Goalkeeper and Chelsea captain John Terry picked up his second consecutive Top Defender award.