"I was the last winner of the Ballon D'or to be born on earth." - Kaka. When the Brazilian won the world player of the year award in 2007, no one could imagine what would happen next. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi would take over the world of football. Lets put it into perspective for anyone who doesn't understand the Ballon D'or, the winner is officially the best player in the world, up until Kaka's win in 2007 no one had dominated the award since the days of Michel Platini, winning three Ballon D'ors back in 1983, 84 and 85. No one would imagine this award of footballing excellence would be dominated in that fashion ever again. Here is how the Ballon D'or has gone since 2008. Cristiano Ronaldo - 2008, Lionel Messi - 2009, Lionel Messi - 2010, Lionel Messi - 2011, Lionel Messi - 2012, Cristiano Ronaldo - 2013, Cristiano Ronaldo 2014. The dominance by these two men is one we have never seen before, in the last seven seasons these two players have broken every record in the history of the Ballon D'r, with Messi becoming the only player ever to win four in a row which evidently lead to him becoming the player with the most awards in history. Cristiano Ronaldo joined a very elite group when he won his third Ballon D'or, and in doing so he answered a lot of critics, many people though he would never win the famous golden trophy again after Messi retained it for four straight years but he did win it again, and he went one better the next year, and retained it! So as 2015 draws to a close the question will once again be asked. Messi or Ronaldo? Will Ronaldo draw level with Messi? or will the Argentine pull away from the pack? I will compare both players 2015, both individual and team success, before i make my judgement on who should win the 2015 Ballon D'or.
I suppose it would only be right to start with the holder, Portugal captain, Cristiano Ronaldo. The man who is currently in possession on three Ballon D'or awards is looking to equal Lionel Messi for the most wins in history, and this is something Ronaldo has been doing a lot in previous years, standing toe to toe with the Argentine. Since his first win in 2008, Cristiano has had to continue to grow his game and improve year after year to try and stay at the top, and after four years without a win, it appeared he may no longer be good enough to win the big one. However, in the wake of form he said was the 'best of his life' Cristiano ended his baron run and won the 2013 Ballon D'or, beating Lionel Messi and Frank Ribery, and for the first time in years, Ronaldo was seen in the same light as Lionel Messi. Ronaldo recently scored his 500th career goal, an incredible achievement for any player, and even more impressive when you realise he has scored the goals in a fraction of the games that any other who have reached the tally had done. The Portuguese international has came a long way since his days back in Portugal at Sporting Lisbon, where he was labled as 'too lightweight', now at Real Madrid he is seen as one of the most all round players in the game. 'The perfect blueprint' is a way Ronaldo has been described over the years, as he has continued to improve his game, and with a combination of pace, strength, technical ability, incredible dribbling, finishing of a world class striker as well as impressive endurance and cardio, Ronaldo is capable of player at full capacity, in almost any role, 100% of the time. Over the years perhaps the main criticism of the Real Madrid record goal scorer is that he is not very likable, seen as being very cocky and arrogant, as well as having a history of diving (especially at his time at Manchester United.) However since moving to the Spanish capital, Ronaldo seems to have really matured as a player and it seems to have had a positive effect on his form, finally now allowing him to be judged purely on his footballing ability.
Looking at the Portugal skipper's 2015, in terms of goal scoring Ronaldo just seems to keep improving! After a relatively slow start to the calendar year, he recovered his form very quickly and has carried it in to this season, with currently ten goals in nine games, including five goals in one game against Espanyol. Madrid's failure to compete with rivals Barcelona in terms of silverware could have a big effect on Cristiano's chance of winning his first Ballon D'or, but his incredible goal tally, hitting his 500th career goal and all round very impressive year means he is going into the ceremony with a big chance of retaining his title.
Now to look at the Ballon D'or record holder, the man with more victories then any other. Lionel Messi. The Argentine has shot to stardom over the last decade and is considered by many as the best player ever to play the game. His record with the World Player of the Year award indicates that well, with four silver awards, and of course four gold awards. Lionel Messi has spend particularly the last six years of his career breaking almost every record put in front of him. The Barcelona front man is currently the La Liga all time leading goal scorer, Barcelona's all time leading goal scorer, his tally of 91 goals in 2012 is the most by any player in history in a calendar year, Only player to score consecutively against all teams in a professional league, Only player to both score and assist in all 6 club competitions in a calendar year, most assists in La Liga history, top goal scorer in El Clasico history, the list goes on and on, with Messi holding a total of 76 FIFA recognised official records to his name, an unprecedented total which will likely never be matched. You'd think with the career he has had that Lionel's greatness was guaranteed from a young age, however, despite his talent being evident from the earliest footage of the Barcelona number 10, Messi was born with a serious medical condition, stunting his growth, an illness which if left untreated, would have made it almost impossible for Lionel to grow to a healthy height. However, the Argentine's obvious gift saved him, while representing the youth side for Neville's Old Boys, Messi was spotted by Barcelona, who agreed to pay for his treatment, as long as he moved to Spain and continued his development in the famous Barcelona youth set up of La Masia. throughout his time in the youth set up, the first teams big stars all noticed the obvious talent of Lionel, and it showed when, at the young age of 16, he made his first team debut which was quickly followed by his first team official debut at 17. Messi also became the clubs youngest all time goal scorer later in the season, scoring a sublime lob against Albacete from an assist by the then number 10, Ronaldinho. From that day on, Messi was a star in Catalonia and he has more then lived up to expectation.
2015 has been a historic year for Barcelona, which will increase and strengthen Messi's case to win back the Ballon D'or. Mainly down to perhaps the best attacking trio we have seen in world football, Neymar, Suarez and of course Messi. With 58 goals from Messi, the trio scored a total of 122 goals in all competitions that season, a record in Spanish football. Towards the end of the campaign, Messi scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over Atlético Madrid on 17 May, securing the La Liga title. Among his 43 league goals that season was a hat-trick scored in 11 minutes against Rayo Vallecano on 8 March, the fastest of his senior career; it was his thirty-second hat-trick overall for Barcelona, allowing him to overtake Telmo Zarra as the player with the most hat-tricks ever in Spanish football. Additionally, as the season's top assist provider with 18 assists, he surpassed Luís Figo as the player with the most assists in La Liga, he had made his record 106th assist in a fixture against Levante on 15 February, in which he also scored a hat-trick. Messi then scored twice as Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 3–1 in the Copa del Rey final on 30 May, achieving the sixth double in their history. His opening goal was hailed as one of the greatest in his career; he collected the ball near the halfway line and beat four opposing players, before feinting the goalkeeper to score in a tight space by the near post. Lionel and Barcelona dominated continentally as well as domestically during the 2015 Champions League season, winning their 5th title, allowing them to keep the famous trophy. On the way to their title Barcelona made light work of Bayern Munich, winning 3-0 in the first leg, with Messi scoring twice and assisted the other. His sublime performances led to him winning the best player in Europe award after winning the European super cup against Sevilla. A historic treble, with the added baggage of a super cup victory and with the World club cup in japan still to come, Messi has had one of the best calendar years in his career in terms of silverware.
While Cristiano Ronaldo's real Madrid will end 2015 trophy less, Lionel Messi's Barcelona will end the calendar year with four, maybe five trophies, which is going to go a big way to deciding the winner of the 2015 Ballon D'or. So far in 2015, Lionel Messi has scored three more goals and provided thirteen more assists then Cristiano Ronaldo for club and country, with the added bonus of the amount of silverware he has won in this calendar year, I personally this the Argentine deserves to win his fifth Ballon D'or this year. However with Ronaldo having a better start to the new season, and with Messi set to spend a period out injured, the race is certainly not over yet.
The Champions League final is, without a doubt, the biggest and most prestigious club game of the season, and requires players who know how to shine when the pressure is at it's highest. Real Madrid have dominated this competition as of late, winning two of the last three Champions League's and with this being their third final in four years. In fact Real have played in five finals since Juventus were last crowned champions, and the Spanish giants have a 100% record in those matches, which includes a 1-0 victory against their upcoming opponents in 1998. Now Juventus have reached a very impressive four finals since 1996, however they have the exact opposite record to Madrid with a 0% success rate in those finals. In the big games Real step while Juve seem to struggle, the Old Lady have also only scored two goals across those games. Including the original iteration of the European cup Juventus have reached 7 finals, only winning two, where as Real have won 11 out of their 13 finals in European cup history, the most final appearances of any side.
Cristiano Ronaldo. Need I say any more? Any side with the three Ballon D'or winner amongst their ranks will always cause problems going forward. Today, 14th May 2017, Real Madrid brushed aside Seville 4-1 in the league, and surpassed two goal scoring milestones in the process. As well as Cristiano Ronaldo scoring his 400th goal for the club in just his 391st game, Zidane's side scored for the 62 consecutive match, a European record, surpassing Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich side from 2014. In all competitions five Real Madrid first team players have reached double figures for goals this season, and they have had an incredible 19 different goal scorers. When you look at their opponents in June, Juve have only two goalscorers on double figures. The likes of, of course, Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, James Rodriguez, Isco (who is in a very rich vain of form at present), Former Juventus striker Morata and Garath Bale, Real have, much like Juventus have in defence, an incredible roster of attackers to call upon. And then you have Sergio Ramos. The man who would lift the famous trophy should Madrid be successful has a history of scoring big goals, including a stoppage time equaliser in the 2014 Champions League final. The Spanish centre back has 10 goals this season, a very impressive return for any non striker, let alone from a defender. If there is anyone who was going to trouble Allegri's defence in the air, it's this man. Then the case of personal pride slips in. Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi. The biggest question in football and one which divides opinion like no other. Ronaldo is currently one goal behind Messi in the race for the golden boot in this years competition. Despite Messi's Barcelona being knocked out by Juventus in the Quarter finals, Ronaldo is yet to reach the Argentine's tally of 11 with Ronaldo still on 10 and you know that will be in the back of his mind on the night, for better or for worse.
