Barcelona’s Lionel Messi was about the only person who can stand between Cristiano Ronaldo and his European and World Player of the Year titles. Kaka claimed both titles last year, with Ronaldo beating Messi to the European honour, whilst Messi finished ahead of Ronaldo in the World competition.

If there was any doubt over whether Ronaldo was going to win both awards, it surely has been confirmed in his favour today.

In Barcelona’s 4-1 win over Malaga at the weekend, Messi was caught on camera spitting at his opponent Duda. This disgusting act went undetected by the referee, meaning Messi escaped a red card.

“That kind of things should not happen,” said his manager, Josep Guardiola, “we are going to prevent it from happening again.”

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