Below is the top five for the Ballon d’ Or final power ranking:
1. Lionel Messi – Paris Saint-Germain:
Former Barcelona and Chelsea striker, Samuel Eto’o, Inter Milan legend, Javier Zanetti, Atletico Madrid striker, Luiz Suarez, Paris Saint-Germain forward, Kylian Mbappe, Barcelona veteran defender, Gerard Pique, and former Real Madrid and Juventus defender, Fabio Cannavaro, all backed Messi to win the Ballon d’ Or this year.
Messi won the Pichichi trophy, scoring 30 goals and providing eleven assists in 35 LaLiga appearances during his time at Barcelona.
The former Barcelona captain also led Argentina to win the 2021 Copa America.
2. Robert Lewandowski – Bayern Munich:
Barcelona legend, Rivaldo, Manchester City playmaker, Kevin de Bruyne, former Premier League stars, Peter Crouch, Rio Ferdinand and Nigel de Jong, picked Lewandowski to win the Ballon d’ Or.
Lewandowski was the favourite to win the Ballon d’ Or in 2020, having scored 55 goals in all competitions for Bayern Munich, but the prestigious individual prize was not handed out because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lewandowski won the Bundesliga title with Bayern.
3. Jorginho – Chelsea:
Germany legend, Lothar Matthaus, Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel’s assistant, Zsolt Low, former Chelsea star, Pat Nevin, Italy head coach, Roberto Mancini, and former Juventus manager, Marcello Lippi, supported Jorginho to win the Ballon d’ Or.
Jorginho won the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and Euro 2020.
The midfielder also won this year’s UEFA Best Player.
4. Karim Benzema – Real Madrid:
Former Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, Tennis superstar, Rafael Nadal, former Real Madrid manager, Zinedine Zidane and Brazil legend, Ronaldo Nazario, picked Benzema to win the Ballon d’ Or.
Benzema won the UEFA Nations League with France this year.
The striker has been impressive for Real Madrid, topping the LaLiga goal chart with ten goals so far this season.
5. Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United:
Former Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson and Cristiano Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, backed Ronaldo to win the award.
Ronaldo became the leading goalscorer in men’s international football after surpassing Ali Daei’s record last month.
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