Ballon d'Or 2018: 5 Players who deserved to be ranked higher in the list
Luka Modric claimed the Ballon d'Or, the prize which is awarded by France Football for the best individual football player. The Croatian was the first person to break the Ronaldo-Messi duopoly, as the duo has clinched the honour for the past decade.
Modric had a fantastic season, as he won the Champions League with Real Madrid and reached the World Cup final with Croatia. But he looks to be one of the many beneficiaries of the huge magnifying glass on Russia.
The likes of Thibaut Courtois, Hugo Lloris, Kylian Mbappe, and Raphael Varane got elevated rankings based on their World Cup displays instead of the club seasons. Players like David De Gea, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Ciro Immobile, and Philippe Coutinho did not even make the top 30, which included shocking names like Karim Benzema and Hugo Lloris.
Cristiano Ronaldo was second in the final rankings, followed by Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, and Lionel Messi. Quite a few players will feel that they deserved a higher position, and rightly so. On that note, here are 5 players who deserved to be ranked higher in the Ballon d'Or list.
#1 Lionel Messi
The Argentine wizard finished outside the top 3 for the first time since 2006, and to be honest, there were no grounds for it to happen.
Messi had an unbelievable 2017/18 campaign, as he scored 45 goals in all competitions, which were the most in Europe's top five leagues. He also had the most assists, most chances created, and most dribbles in the season. Messi led Barcelona to the domestic double, and they missed out on an unbeaten LaLiga season as he was rested for their last game - which, you guessed it, Barca lost.
In Russia, Messi had an underwhelming tournament, but those four games below his usual standard have been used to wipe out more than 50 games of utter brilliance. You are surely better than this, France Football.