Premier League - Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion
Virgil van Dijk once again showed his prowess in the field in Liverpool's recent match against RB Salzburg. (Photo: PHOTO: Reuters/Jason Cairnduff)

Virgil van Dijk is only a few points short from winning the prestigious Ballon d'Or this year. However, instead of being better about this, the Liverpool defender remained dignified. He was gracious in his defeat and gave a lot of praise to the Barcelona captain, whom he called unnatural.

Lionel Messi is undoubtedly a legend in the realm of football. He made another history when he won this year's Ballon d'Or award. Messi is the first-ever man footballer to receive six Ballon d'Or in history.

Second on the list of contenders for the prestigious French award is Liverpool and Holland defender Virgil van Dijk. The football star was all-praises to Lionel Messi, following a narrow loss on the most significant individual prize in the world of football. Van Dijk called Messi unnatural and said that we have to respect greatness, referring to the Barca captain, who has accomplished so much in his career.

Speaking in front of the star-filled crowd inside the Theatre du Chatelet, Van Dijk admitted he did not believe he is a contender for such a massive individual prize. The Dutchman said that he never thought to be on the Ballon d'Or list until he was nominated. It says a lot about my career, which has never been easy, the Liverpool defender remarked.

Virgil van Dijk then turned the spotlight to the night's winner Lionel Messi giving him praise. There are a couple of other players who are unnatural just like him, Van Dijk added, calling them fantastic. I was close to the award, but we need to respect greatness, and that there is someone a little bit better, Van Dijk admitted.

I am very proud of what i accomplished last year with the club as well as with Holland, and hopefully, we can do that again this year, the Liverpool defender said. He also admitted that it is going to be tough as long as Messi and other great players are around. Van Dijk also noted that his career has been very different compared to Lionel Messi.

  Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo was absent during the Ballon d'Or gala, where he ranked far third trailing behind Virgil van Dijk at the second place. The Liverpool defender is 203 points ahead of the Juventus Talisman in terms of score points in the ranking. Ronaldo chose not to attend the ballon d'Or awarding ceremony and instead was in Milan Italy to receive his Serie A Player of the Year award for the 2018-2019 season.