Messi reveals who he will vote for in this year's Ballon d'Or

The Argentine superstar admits some of his club colleagues are deserving of the award, and has played down the supposed rivalry between himself and Cristiano Ronaldo

Lionel Messi believes that two of his Barcelona team-mates will receive his vote for the Ballon d'Or this year, and also claims that a couple of Real Madrid players should be considered for the honour.

    2012 Ballon d'Or shortlist announced
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The brilliant 25-year-old has already won the award three times, becoming only the fourth player to ever do so in the history of the game, but conceded that he will have to face a year without the trophy at some point.

"Do I think about it [the Ballon d'Or]? No!" admitted Messi, speaking to Marca.

"When the time comes, it may be different... I've been fortunate to receive the award three times, it's massive, unbelievable. But I'm going to come to a year where I will not win it."

"My playing style has always been the same. I have never looked for it, but it has been like that since I was small. One thing for sure is that I learned a lot in youth football."

"Here [at Barcelona] we work in a different way with the ball and the tactical system. I came from Argentina where we did not do anything like that, everything was about running and not much else.


"I was lucky that Tito Vilanova came to Barca. From that moment on, I came to play and my career changed at Barca's youth teams."

Messi was keen to share his thoughts on other potential suitors for the award, and his praise wasn't reserved for only his domestic and international team-mates.

"I do not know who is on the shortlist. I will vote for Xavi, Andres [Iniesta] and definitely one of my countrymen.

"I think it could be [Iker] Casillas' Ballon d'Or, he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and also Cristiano [Ronaldo].

"When something happens, the press look to compare us. We are rivals on the field, nothing more. They look around ourselves to compete. It's tiring me a bit," conceded the Argentine.

Chelsea set for £48m Falcao swoop in January

Falcao

The Stamford Bridge outfit are set to activate the Atletico Madrid star's release clause in the upcoming transfer window, with some suggestions that personal terms are agreed

Chelsea will make a sensational £48 million January move for Atletico Madrid star Radamel Falcao, Goal.com has learned.

Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, has decided to activate the €60m (£48.1m) release clause in the Colombian’s contract as he looks to land one of the hottest strikers in the world.

Di Matteo: We will exploit Manchester United's weaknesses

Roberto Di Matteo

The Chelsea boss is anticipating a classic encounter against rivals,
and believes the Blues have the firepower to cause them problems, while
also dismissing the need for mind games

Roberto Di Matteo has targeted Manchester United's defensive problems ahead of Chelsea's "massive" clash with the Premier League runners-up on Sunday


The Blues are currently sitting at the summit of the table with 22 points – but Manchester United are just four behind them in second.

And Di Matteo is aware of the game's significance, describing it as a "classic" and declaring his intention to capitalise on United's recent defensive complications.

"It's a massive game for both clubs and a classic in the fixture list," Di Matteo told reporters.

"They are conceding a few goals and we have a big threat as well with our players, so we will try to exploit those weaknesses.

"We know Man United very well and they are always very difficult games. But we have to take advantage of our home crowd and our home pitch and play with the belief and confidence we've shown so far."

Di Matteo is also keen for Chelsea to put their 2-1 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk behind them, citing the United clash as the perfect opportunity to do so.


He continued: "After a defeat, it's not the best within our dressing room, but we have a great game coming up on Sunday and I think we can prove to everybody that we are a strong team.

"They've recovered from a defeat in the first game very well. They are a strong team and were at the top last season and you wouldn't expect them to be anywhere else."

However, one thing the Italian manager insisted he would not engage in is the practice of mind games.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has been notorious over the years for his use of the media, but Di Matteo doesn't think he himself needs to take such an approach.

Di Matteo added: "If I need to, I will, but there is no need and sometimes it doesn't have to be publicly.

"They didn't work last season, I think. You make it out a little bit more than it is at the end of the day.

"As a manager, you have to prepare your team as good as you can and then the players have to go on the pitch and perform.

Guardiola wanted to sell Fabregas, Pique, Villa & Dani Alves

The 41-year-old felt the quartet did not fit into the Blaugrana team for a variety of reasons, but the club feared a backlash from supporters if they had departed

Fifa agent Francois Gallardo has claimed that Pep Guardiola would have stayed at Barcelona, had the club sanctioned the sales of Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique, David Villa and Dani Alves.

The coach called time on his four-year spell in charge at Camp Nou in May, citing exhaustion and a need to recharge his batteries.

However, according to the representative, he could have remained in his post, but club president Sandro Rosell saw the quartet as untouchable.

"Guardiola announced his terms of renewal to Rosell. Among them was the sale of four players - Alves, Pique, Cesc and David Villa," Gallardo was quoted as saying by AS.

"Pep did not seem committed to Fabregas, Gerard and Dani, while the reasons for Villa leaving were sporting. He was especially disappointed in Cesc as a person, as he had refused to shake his hand when he signed.

"These players were regarded as untouchable, and the fans would not have accepted the sale."

Guardiola's successor, Tito Vilanova, has enjoyed an unbeaten league start with his side sat in first place, level on points with Atletico Madrid.

Manchester City boss Mancini hits back at tactics criticism

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has hit back at critics following his side's 3-1 defeat to Ajax in the Champions League.

The Italian manager has been quick to respond to the doubts which have been raised over his decision-making after his side fell to a 3-1 defeat to Ajax on Wednesday

The Italian was the target of criticism after the defeat to the Eredivisie title holders left them with little hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the competition.

When asked if he had endured a difficult couple of days, Mancini responded to reporters: "For you or for me?"

Speaking ahead of Saturday's fixture against Swansea City, Mancini added:"If you are a top player, it's not important which system you use. If you don't understand, you can't play for a top team."

Micah Richards claimed after the match that City had not worked on Mancini's 3-5-2 system, and that the players were not used to the formation. Despite Richards' criticism, Mancini has defended his player.

He continued: "I don't want to speak about Micah because I don't think he said this. He answered questions. It's not important. I understand you should write about this, but for me it's not important what Micah said after the game.


"With this system, every time we change the result. Maybe Micah doesn't know this because it is the first game for him after he was out for two months. Probably he has worked less than the other players but maybe the next time when we play this system, he will understand it better."

The Manchester City boss remains confident that his side are able to get results by playing just three at the back, and insists that this is not just something which he started experimenting with this season.

He added: "The players know the system. When you are on the bench and 2-1 away, the manager should do something from the bench. We wanted to play more offensively and we conceded a third because of a mistake.

"I repeat, this system we played a minimum of 15 times last year. It is not a new system."