Alisson: It's more difficult to win the Ballon d'Or as a goalkeeper

Alisson Becker has admitted that it will be unlikely for him or any goalkeeper to win the Ballon d'Or.

The 26-year-old played a key part in Liverpool's Champions League triumph in his first season with the club before going on to lift the Copa America with Brazil in the summer.

The UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year sat down with MARCA to discuss his successes, being a goalkeeper and his future ambitions.

What are your aspirations this season, having won the Champions League and Copa America?

There's a lot to aspire to with both Liverpool and Brazil. We have various collective objectives and also individual objectives. I'm still trying to achieve them and let's hope this season is as good as the last.

Few players can say that they've won two trophies of such importance in the same season. How do you look back on it?

It was a special season and we enjoyed it a lot, but there's no time to celebrate in football. We've already started a new campaign with other goals and we have to go after them.

Do you think you're a candidate for the Ballon d'Or?

I've read about it and it fills me with pride, but I know it's not easy. It's even more difficult as a goalkeeper. But I also have a calm conscience. This means that I'm doing well in my work and people value it.

Goalkeepers are key players in the most popular sport in the world, but they do not award winners. Why are goalkeepers not valued as much as, for example, strikers or midfielders across the world?

It's a difficult question. Goalkeepers are getting more involved in matches. You have to be good with your hands, of course, and know how to play with your feet because it's a fundamental aspect to start moves. Furthermore, goalkeepers have a unique viewpoint of the whole pitch and it's important to organise your teammates. The difference is that goalkeepers don't score goals. They stop them [laughs]. And people like to celebrate goals. It's the most important moment in football and I think that's why strikers are valued a bit more. It's natural, but things are changing bit by bit.

You can break the rules. No one has achieved more than you in 2019. Would it be fair for you to win the Ballon d'Or?

It would be an honour, of course, but I prefer not to think about it.

Do you think Liverpool are favourites to win the Premier League and another Champions League?

We're going to fight for every trophy, but there are other strong teams with the same objectives as Liverpool.

What is your most memorable save and who was it against?

It's difficult to choose just one, but I think the most important one for me was against Napoli at Anfield, against [Arkadiusz] Milik, in the last few minutes of the last Champions League group stage game.

What's your greatest strength as a goalkeeper?

The reading of the play that I can do from my position.

And where do you need to improve?

I have many things to improve. And this is why I work harder every day.