Lionel Messi is crowned king of European football

Lionel Messi was today named European Footballer of the Year. His near unanimous victory - he received 473 out of a possible 480 points given by the football journalists who vote for the Ballon d'Or - knocked last year's winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, into second place.

The Argentinian midfielder is one of four Barcelona players to appear in the journalists' top ten. The others are Xavi (who came third after Real Madrid's Ronaldo), Andres Iniesta (fourth) and
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (seventh). Samuel Eto'o, who came fifth, now plays with Inter but was also a member of the Barcelona squad that won the treble earlier this year.

Messi, who scored 38 goals in 51 games last season, told France Football: "Honestly, I knew that I was among the favourites because Barcelona had a fruitful year, but I didn't expect to win with such a margin. The Ballon d'Or is very important to me. All the players who won it were great players, and some great players never won it."

The journalists who honoured Messi snubbed England's footballers, however. Although three English clubs made the Champions League semi-finals, the highest placed Premier League player - and, for that matter, English player - was Wayne Rooney of Manchester United in eighth place. Didier Drogba (Chelsea) and Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) followed him in ninth and tenth positions. ·