Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk was happy to lose this season's Ballon d'Or to the "unnatural" Lionel Messi.

Barcelona star Messi took out a record sixth Ballon d'Or, eclipsing his rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who finished third in voting but failed to appear for the ceremony in Paris.

In his interview, the Netherlands star Van Dijk said: "It was an amazing year, but there's a couple of players like that who are a bit unnatural. So you need to respect greatness as well.

"I was close, but there was just someone a little bit better.

"I'm very proud of what I achieved last year with Liverpool and Holland, and hopefully we can do that again this year. But that will be tough with those guys around here still."