Ballon d'Or 2019: Ranking the current 5 favorites for winning the award
Real Madrid star Luka Modric broke the decade long Ronaldo-Messi duopoly of lifting the Ballon d'Or last year. The Croatian ended the dominance of the two footballing greats after a historic run in the World Cup as he lead Croatia to a runners-up finish.
The Ballon d’Or remains the most prestigious individual honor in football, presented to the player deemed to be the world’s best.
Many players simply had an outstanding season which include the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling, Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, Virgil van Dijk, Eden Hazard and many more.
Here we take a look at top 5 contenders who could lift the Ballon d'Or this year.
#5 Sadio Mane
Sadio Mane had an excellent campaign as he finished the season with a UEFA Champions League medal and the Premier League Golden Boot in his bag.
The Senegalese forward netted a career best 22 Premier League goals this season and shared the Golden Boot with his teammate Mohamed Salah. The 27-year-old was vital to Liverpool's dream run to a sixth European Cup as he scored 4 and assisted one in the 13 appearances he made.
His performances against Bayern Munich will be the ones to remember as he bamboozled Manuel Neuer before slotting the ball into the back of the net.
Mane was in the running for the PFA Player of the year award as well but was pipped by his teammate Virgil van Dijk and would have another chance at glory as he leads his country's national team into the African Cup of Nations.
Senegal stand a good chance of winning the title and it could help the Liverpool forward to bolster his chances of inching closer to the Golden Ball.