On 12 November , Messi placed second in the 2016 Ballon d'Or behind Cristiano Ronaldo , who claimed the award for the fourth time . He finished the year with 51 goals , making him Europe 's top scorer , one ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimović . After placing second in the 2016 Ballon d'Or , on 9 January 2017 Messi also finished in second place – behind Cristiano Ronaldo once again – in the 2016 Best FIFA Men 's Player Award . On 11 January , Messi scored from a free-kick in Barcelona 's 3 – 1 victory against Athletic Bilbao in the second leg of the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey , which enabled Barcelona to advance to the quarter-finals of the competition ; with his 26th goal from a free-kick for Barcelona in all competitions , he equalled the club 's all-time record , which had previously been set by Ronald Koeman . In his next league match , on 14 January , Messi scored in a 5 – 0 win against Las Palmas ; with this goal , he equalled Raúl 's record for the most number of teams scored against in La Liga ( 35 )
2016 Ballon d'Or
2016 Ballon d'Or
Lionel Messi