Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde insists Lionel Messi deserves the Ballon d'Or.

Valverde weighed into the Ballon d'Or debate suggesting that everyone already knows who the world's best player is.

It didn't take too much working out that he was referring to his own No.10, Lionel Messi.

"We all know the best player in the world," he said to reporters at his pre-match press conference.

"The subject of that trophy is not an issue that worries me too much, because I already know that Messi is the best.

"A ball more or a ball less, whether made of gold, silver or bronze, makes no difference."