If it were up to Xavi, Cristiano Ronaldo wouldn't even appear in the top three contenders for the Ballon d'Or.

Speaking in an interview with Sport, the Barcelona midfielder gave his thoughts on the prestigious award, to be presented in the New Year, his Barcelona colleagues and his decision to stay at the Nou Camp.

The 34-year-old was posed the question: 'If you had been Spain captain who would you have voted for the Ballon d’Or?'

Cristiano Ronaldo receives the Autonomic Cord Distinction, the highest award of his home island of Madeira

'Pharaoh' Xavi spoke exclusively with Spanish magazine Sport in Cairo about life at Barcelona

'First Leo (Lionel Messi). Second (Philipp) Lahm and third (Javier) Mascherano,' Xavi asserted.

When told that Barcelona team-mate Neymar voted almost identically, replacing Lahm with Ronaldo, Xavi's reaction about this season's top scorer in La Liga was honest.

'The thing is, Cristiano didn’t do much in the World Cup and I think that in the year of the World Cup that defines much of the season.'

Philipp Lahm (centre) captained Germany to World Cup glory in Brazil in the summer

Barcelona veteran Xavi described his Nou Camp team-mate Lionel Messi (left) as 'the best player in the world'

Xavi said that Ronaldo (centre) did not merit the Ballon d'Or due to his below par World Cup performance

The 34-year-old was quick to dispel any rumours of Lionel Messi leaving the Nou Camp for the time being

This season has seen La Liga's all-time top goal scorer Messi getting more involved with defensive responsibilities, something that has added to rumours the 27-year-old is not content at the Catalan club.

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'I see a happy Messi,' Xavi commented.

'Look, he is the best player in the world and we have to live with these responses. But I see him happy and content.

'Very different to last year when he suffered that beastly injury that kept him off the field of play for two months, also with the World Cup on the horizon, it wasn’t an easy year for anybody.

'But this year he’s at the top, we are really enjoying it with him on the pitch. He’s performing like the best Messi.'