Ballon d'Or: 3 things that could prevent Lionel Messi from winning the award this year
Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious individual award in football. Some of the world's finest footballers fight every season to get their hands on the award. Luka Modric has claimed it in 2018 after delivering some sensational performances for his club and country. Modric played a crucial role for Real Madrid as they won the Champions League again and he also helped Croatia reach the finals of FIFA World Cup.
Despite Modric breaking the duopoly of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the individual awards, it is hard to talk about Ballon d'Or without them. Messi and Ronaldo have dominated world football over a decade with their extraterrestrial abilities and they have won the award five times each. In the current season, Messi has been by far the best performer and remains a huge favourite to win the award for a record 6th time.
The 31-year-old has consistently proven that he is on another level by displaying outstanding performances almost every week. Thanks to Messi, Barcelona secured the league title with few games to go and Messi also played a decisive role as the Catalan giants reached the finals of Copa Del Rey.
The Argentine genius leads the race for European Golden Shoe with 34 goals and also leads the Champions League scoring charts with 12 goals. However, there are still a few obstacles which may prevent Messi from lifting the award despite having a stellar individual campaign.
Without further ado, let us take a look at three things which can hamper Messi's chance of winning the award this year.
#3 Failure in the Copa America
After the abysmal World Cup campaign, Messi took a break from featuring for his national team. His return to Argentina this year was marred with an uninspiring defeat against Venezuela and his injury. It is crystal clear that Argentina have not improved much and the albiceste won't start as favourites in the upcoming Copa America tournament.
Whereas Messi won plethora of trophies with Barcelona, a major silverware with his national team remains his kryptonite. The Blaugrana captain will have another chance to win something with Argentina but evidently, the team's chemistry is nothing like that of Barcelona's.
It will be another uphill task for Messi to win the Copa America after consistent failures in the past. Another major failure with his national team will hamper his chances of winning the Ballon d'Or.