Gerard Pique believes Lionel Messi should have won every Ballon d'Or since 2009 as his Barcelona teammate is on 'another level'.
Cristiano Ronaldo took the crown in both 2013 and 2014, while the Portuguese star is favourite to take this year's award, after Messi won the title in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.
The current Real Madrid forward also won the award in 2008 when he was with Pique at Manchester United, but the defender now believes Messi has been superior to all rivals every year since.
"If the Ballon d'Or was given to the best player in the world, Leo would have won it every year since 2009. On another level," said the 29-year-old on his twitter account on Monday.
Messi netted Barca's equaliser against Sevilla on Sunday evening, before setting up the winner for Luis Suarez.