Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk finished second as Lionel Messi picked up the 2019 Ballon d'Or award on Monday night.

The Reds imperious centre-back was the bookies' favourite alongside five-time winner Messi to pick up the award in the ceremony in Paris.

After a stunning campaign with Liverpool that saw van Dijk lift the Champions League, the Super Cup and UEFA's Player of the Year award, the Dutchman can count himself unlucky not to win the top prize on the night.

It was the first time since 2015 that Messi has won the award, who has now won the prize more times than any player in history, edging out Cristiano Ronaldo's five.

Despite collapsing against Liverpool in the Champions League, Messi remained at his exhilarating best as he scored 36 goals and assisted 15 times in 34 appearances to take Barcelona to the La Liga title.

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Liverpool had more players than any other side in the top 10, with Alisson finishing seventh and winning the Goalkeeper of the Year award, Mohamed Salah finishing fifth, Sadio Mane coming fourth and Van Dijk ending as runner-up.

Gini Wijnaldum finished 26th in the overall rankings, with Trent Alexander-Arnold coming 19th and Roberto Firmino finishing 17th.

Top 30 Ballon d'Or List

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28th – Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid)
28th – Marquinhos (PSG)
28th – Donny van der Beek (Ajax)
26th – Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
26th – Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool)
24th – Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)
24th – Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (FC Barcelona)
23rd – Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur)
22nd – Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur)
20th – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
20th – Dusan Tadic (Ajax)
19th – Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
18th – Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)
17th – Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
16th – Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
15th – Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax and Juventus)
14th – Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
13th – Eden Hazard (Chelsea and Real Madrid)
12th – Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
11th – Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona)
10th - Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
8th - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
7th - Alisson (Liverpool)
6th - Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
5th - Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
4th - Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
3rd - Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
2nd - Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
1st - Lionel Messi (Barcelona)