Despite being overlooked for both the UEFA and FIFA Player Of The Year awards recently, many people are still tipping former Real Madrid talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo, to emerge victorious during the Ballon d’Or award gala that is set to take place in December. The Portuguese superstar was one of the top performers on the planet last season, breaking records upon records and running riot on his way to guiding Los Blancos to claim a record third consecutive UEFA Champions League triumph as well as scoring plenty of goals and reaching fantastic milestones in his illustrious career during the campaign.
However, just as he missed out on both the UEFA and FIFA Player Of The Year awards recently, Cristiano Ronaldo could also fail to win the coveted Ballon d’Or award this term despite his incredible performances and achievements during the year.
Domestic failure
Cristiano Ronaldo was without doubts, the most impressive player in the UEFA Champions League last season, bagging a whopping 15 goals and 3 assists to help Real Madrid to their third consecutive Champions League triumph during the term. However, the same cannot be said of the Portuguese when it comes to the domestic level. Despite his incredible brilliance in Europe, the attacker failed to reach a similar level of impact in La Liga and he could only watch as Barcelona beat Real Madrid to claim both the La Liga title and the Copa Del Rey trophy during the term.
There is no denying that the 5-time Ballon d’Or winner had another disappointing La Liga campaign by his own standards – recording just 26 goals and 5 assists to his name in the Spanish top flight throughout the campaign.
The World Cup
The FIFA World Cup is regarded as the biggest stage in football and there is no doubt it is having a great influence on the Ballon d’Or race at the moment – with many superstars emerging as strong contenders for the award by virtue of their fantastic performances in the competition.
The tournament presented itself as a golden opportunity for many superstars to climb the ladder to the top but quite unfortunately, Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo couldn’t make the most of this massive privilege.
The attacker raised the expectations before him by scoring in his first 2 games in Russia, including a hat-trick for Portugal in their opening fixture against Spain but he failed to keep up with such level of impact as he could only watch as the European champions were sent packing from the competition in the Round of 16.
Luka Modric
There is no doubt Cristiano Ronaldo’s biggest threat for the Ballon d’Or award this year remains his former teammate Luka Modric. Although the Croatian also played influential roles to help Real Madrid to their third consecutive Champions League triumph last season, it is his incredible exploits during the recently concluded FIFA World Cup that makes him a real threat to Ronaldo’s chances of defending his honor as the best player in the world this term.
Modric was without doubts the best player during the tournament in Russia, producing a lot of eye-catching performances and carrying the burden of leading an under-dog nation on football biggest stage. The midfielder impressed with the role, helping Croatia to reach the final of the competition for the first time in their history as well as claiming the FIFA Golden Ball for his impressive performances.
Ronaldo-Messi losing their stranglehold
If we were to discuss the Ballon d’Or race in about 3 years ago, no one would have doubted either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi would eventually step up to pick up the award. However, things have now changed and it is finally happening that the duo are losing their stranglehold on major honors at the moment.
The whole world was taken aback when Lionel Messi was left out of both the UEFA and FIFA Player Of The Year award shortlists recently – but more shock was to come, with Croatian International Luka Modric upsetting the odds and claiming both awards to end a whopping 10 years of Messi-Ronaldo dominance on top of the football world.