Lionel Messi’s Ballon d’Or triumph marked with goat statues in Paris

The PSG forward claimed football’s highest individual honour for a seventh time in Paris on Monday evening

Lionel Messi’s record Ballon d’Or win has been celebrated in a strange way in Paris - with a series of goat statues.

Seven statues, representing each of his seven Ballon d’Or trophies, were placed in front of the Eiffel Tower and posted to Instagram by Adidas. The company captioned the post: “A legacy unrivalled.”

There is a lot of debate surrounding who is the GOAT of football with the central discussion circling Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. But the celebration of Messi’s Ballon d’Or win on Monday has seen a lot of people give the title to him.

And the man himself was ecstatic with the win. The Paris Saint-Germain player said in his acceptance speech: “It’s incredible to be here again.

“Two years ago I thought it was the last time. People were starting to ask me when I was going to retire but now I’m here in Paris and very happy.

“It’s a special year for me with this Copa America title. It meant a lot to win [1-0 against Brazil in the final] at the Maracana stadium and I was so happy to celebrate with the people from Argentina.

“I don’t know if it’s the best year of my life - I’ve had a long career - but it was a special one with the title with Argentina after the tough times and the criticism.”

Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas won the women’s Ballon d’Or with Robert Lewandowski picking up striker of the years, Gianluigi Donnarumma getting the keeper gong and Pedri won the Kopa trophy.