The date to announce the winner for 2021 Ballon d’Or is closer than ever. The race this year has good competition unlike for the past ten years when there were only two contenders and two winners. The Ballon d’Or is awarded to the best player in the world in that particular calendar year. For the past 15 years, it has been dominated by two of the most famously known names around the globe, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Although they face competition this year, it does not mean that they have lost it. Those two have the habit of snatching victories in the face of defeat.
The Ballon d’Or winner will be announced on November 29th, 2021. Everyone has their own opinion on who should win it and who should not. This year the decision won’t be that easy to make. As there is more than one deserving candidate but unfortunately only one could be the winner. Many will be happy over the result while others will get upset. A player who wins the Balon d’Or is noted permanently in the history books. This year’s Ballon d’Or is powered by the Champions League, the Euros, and Copa America. The fact that all of these tournaments came in the same year has increased the significance and difficulty for the 2021 Ballon d’Or.
Everyone has their eyes glued to the usual Messi-Ronaldo rivalry. Although this year there are other several serious contenders. The 2021 Ballon d’Or will have added importance to it since last year’s Ballon d’Or was canceled due to covid. However, there was only one man who deserved it in the cancelled edition and that was Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich. Currently, the former Barcelona man Lionel Messi has won the most Ballon d’Or awards 6 times. While Cristiano Ronaldo sits right behind him with 5 Ballon d’Or awards.
The frontrunners for 2021 Balon d’Or
The frontrunners obviously include two of the best players of all time. It will be very unusual to see a Ballon d’Or without Messi and Ronaldo. Cristiano won the Coppa Italia & Supercoppa Italiana with Juventus while scoring 38 goals and assisting 4 times in the 2020/21 season. He also won the golden boot at Euro 2020 and the Serie A golden boot by scoring 29 goals in 33 appearances.
On the other hand, Messi scored 38 goals and assisted 14 in 47 appearances in all competitions. He even won his eighth Pichichi award scoring 30 goals in 35 appearances while assisting 11 in the La Liga. But most importantly he won the Copa del Rey and the Copa America. He won his first-ever international trophy and was also the Player of the tournament. However, both the GOATs have struggled in their start to the 2021-22 campaign as Ronaldo returned to Manchester United and Messi reunited with Neymar at PSG.
Jorginho from Chelsea is another contender who has been in the limelight. He won the Champions League and UEFA Super Cup with Chelsea. While continuing his form, he also won the Euro 2020 with Italy. Jorginho has lifted all most all the important trophies this season, unlike other contenders. He also won UEFA Men’s Player of the Year which makes his case even stronger. His defensive contribution for Italy at Euro 2020 was second to none.
And then of course there is Robert Lewandowski who scored 52 goals and assisted 8 in all competitions. He won the Bundesliga, Club World Cup, and DFL-Supercup with Bayern Munich. He broke Gerd Muller’s record of most goals in a single Bundesliga campaign by scoring 41 goals in just 29 games. Lewandowski was the clear winner in the 2020 campaign but unfortunately, Ballon d’Or was scrapped off because of Covid-19.
So the question remains…
According to many, Lionel Messi is the favorite to lift the 2021 Ballon d’Or and also his seventh in his magical career. However, Jorginho and Lewandowski are also very close to Argentinian talisman. It will be a treat to all the Messi fans around the world to see him lift his seventh Ballon d’Or. Messi will very well be the deserving winner of the award as his efforts have helped Argentina win their first trophy after 28 years. Messi also led a weak Barcelona side to a Copa del Rey final and won it for the Catalans. Although it will be very hard and unfortunate for Jorginho and Lewandowski to come so close and not win it. But their efforts helped their clubs achieve what they did and their work was not short of any Ballon d’Or winning performance.
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