Football’s most coveted individual prize is up for grabs again, and for the second year in a row, it looks like we might see a new winner. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have dominated the award since 2008, both winning the trophy five times a piece – that was until Luka Modric snapped up the award last year.
At this stage there are three main players who appear to be in the running for the award, the stalwarts – Ronaldo and Messi – and following a stellar season at the back for Liverpool, Virgil van Dijk. That being said, Sadio Mané has also put his hand up and forced his way into the discussion.
We’ll look at each player and look at what they’ve done to put themselves in contention for the most sought after individual award in football.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Image source: nbcnews.com
Following a nine-year stint at Real Madrid, the Portugal captain sought out a new challenge in Italy and joined Serie A giants, Juventus. It didn’t take him long to find his groove and he eventually finished as the club’s leading goal scorer in every domestic competition.
On the international stage, Ronaldo continued to dominate and carried Portugal to UEFA Nations League glory with a hat-trick in the semi-final against Switzerland. Portugal eventually went on to beat the Netherlands in the final in Porto.
Although he has had an incredible year so far, many believe that Ronaldo has no realistic chance of winning the Ballon d’Or this season. When compared to some other players, it just doesn’t seem like he has done enough to warrant the award.
Lionel Messi
Image source: bleacherreport.com
Once again Lionel Messi has dominated in Spain. Barcelona managed to snap up yet another La Liga title with the Little Maestro ending the season as the top goal scorer in Europe and with the most assists in Spain’s top flight.
But, there have been a few bumps in the road that may cause Messi to miss out on another Ballon d’Or award. The first being Barca’s meltdown against Liverpool at Anfield, a thrilling contest which saw the Reds overturn a four-goal deficit to knock the Spanish champions out of the competition. Messi caught a lot of flak for the loss but, despite being well marked by Virgil van Dijk, he still managed to put his teammates through on goal on more than one occasion.
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The second major bump in the road was Argentina’s semi-final loss to Brazil in the Copa America. One of the biggest criticisms of Messi is that he fails to perform consistently at international level, and this was one of those times. Brazil hammered in two goals without reply and condemned Argentina to a third-place playoff against Chile, a match they ended up winning.
Regardless of whether you think Messi deserves his spot on the list this year or not, some of his goals have been sensational and his assists have been mind-blowing. It will be interesting to see how he gets on in the votes this year.
Sadio Mané
Image source: eurosport.co.uk
“He is almost perfect.” – These were the words uttered by Thiago Silva in reference to Sadio Mané.
The Senegalese forward has been a silent assassin for Liverpool this year, playing in the shadow of Mohammed Salah he has added to his goal and assist tally regularly in all competitions and always seems to find himself in the right place to orchestrate a wonderful move.
At the start of last season, Mané was nowhere near the threat he is at the moment. He was always great, but he appeared to be forced into a support role for Salah and Firmino. Fast-forward to this year and he is arguably the most feared forward in the Premier League.
His pace, control and ability to put his teammates through on goal have seen him sneak onto the list and he now appears to have a very good chance of walking away with the trophy. Should he manage to win the Ballon d’Or, he will be the first African player to do so since George Weah won it back in 1995.
Virgil van Dijk
Image source: dailymail.co.uk
Virgil van Dijk has been a talisman for the Reds this season. His ability to stop some of the best strikers in the world in their tracks, and then push up field and hammer in a blinding header have seen him well and truly earn his £75m price tag.
To give you an idea of just how good Van Dijk is, between March 2018 and August 2019, he went 50 games without being dribbled past, a feat that earned him the 2018/19 PFA Player of the Year award. Added to that, he helped guide Liverpool to their sixth Champions League title.
Van Dijk is the heavy favourite to win the Ballon d’Or this year, if he manages to get it right, he will be the first defender to win it since Fabio Cannavaro won it in 2006, and will be the first player from the Netherlands to win it since Marco van Basten claimed the award in 1995.
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