Modric won the 2018 Ballon d’Or, which made Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s 10-year rule of the award end! Besides Messi and Ronaldo, the last one won the Ballon d’Or is Kaka back in 2007. From the 2008 to 2017, the last decade, Messi and C. Ronaldo have won five Ballon d’Or respectively.
The ten-year Ronaldo and Messi duopoly is the happiest decade for fans. Messi or Ronaldo could have dominated world football for a long time if they were not in the same era. Now these two legendary superstars appear in the same period. Their personal glory will be reduced, but the competition between them makes them push the football world to a new height. Messi and Ronaldo have the top performance that other stars can’t match, and more impressingly, they can keep their best in a very long time. The long-term peak brought by the benign competition between the two has enabled the fans to enjoy the most wonderful duopoly.
It’s great to hear that Modric won the Ballon d’Or, but to some extent it is quite out of people’s expectation. In the World Cup year, the Ballon d’Or will usually won by the best player in the World Cup. Portugal and Argentina failed to reach the quarter-finals, which greatly reduced the competitiveness of Messi and Ronaldo. But next year’s situation is completely different. In the summer of 2019, there is only the America’s Cup. This means that the winner in 2019 will most likely to be selected from the players who have great performance in Champions League.
Ronaldo has made a clear statement that he has never given up the pursuit of the Ballon d’Or. After losing in the 2018 competition, Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal is to back to be the No. 1 of the world in 2019. Ronaldo has made Juventus more stable and efficient, and the Bianconeri has become one of the biggest favorites in the Champions League. If Juventus wins the Champions League next year, it will be the fourth consecutive title for Ronaldo. It has never done by anyone before and will be extremely hard to achieve it again. It will not be surprising that Ronaldo gets his sixth Ballon d’Or if he wins the Champions League.
The introverted Messi usually doesn’t talk too much about his goals, but at the beginning of this season the Argentine rarely publicly stated that “it is time to bring the Champions League trophy back to the Camp Nou.” As long as Barcelona can regain the Champions League trophy, Messi will probably win the 2019 Ballon d’Or. In the Champions League, Barcelona has advanced to the next stage when there are still two rounds left. Comparing Barcelona’s different performances in the league and the Champions League, it is not difficult to see that the team has regarded the Champions League as the priority of this season.
Winning the Champions League will probably win the 2019 Ballon d’Or. Now let’s see Messi and Ronaldo’s performance in Champions League knockout stage!