Carlo Ancelotti says Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have competition in winning the Ballon d'Or
Former Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, has backed Barcelona stars Neymar and Luis Suarez, Real Madrid star James Rodriguez to win future FIFA Ballon d'Ors ahead of five-time winner Lionel Messi and three-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Italian spoke exclusively to Goal.com and said all the three of them – Suarez, Neymar and James – had the chance to win it over Messi and Ronaldo simply because of the seasons they're having for the club. While Neymar and Suarez have devastated defences alongside Messi in the Liga BBVA and the UEFA Champions League, James has had the chance to link with Cristiano Ronaldo alone.
Ancelotti – who won Real Madrid their coveted La Decima Champions League trophy – however did agree that Ronaldo and Messi both would go after the award like they always do.
"I think Ronaldo wants to win another (Ballon d'Or)," he said.
"This is a good motivation for him. He will try, I think, to do his best to win again.
"I think it's the same with Messi. It's very difficult to say who is going to win the Ballon d'Or next (between) these two players.
"Maybe it could be Neymar; he has fantastic skill. Could be James Rodriguez, could be (Luis) Suarez.
"It's very difficult, they're at the top, they still continue to be at the top.
"I'm sure that Ronaldo... will fight to win (the Ballon d'Or) trophy again.
"Of course, he has the most difficult opponent, Messi, but I'm sure he will try to fight to win again."
The FIFA Ballon d'Or has been heavily fought amongst Messi and Ronaldo over the past 8 years. Lionel Messi winning 5 of the last 8 goes to show the dominance of the little magician. Having missed a chunk of this season with an injury, Messi has still managed to score 32 goals.
Ronaldo, on the other hand, has scored 41 goals this season for Real Madrid. The two of them will surely be in contention early next year when the FIFA Ballon d'Or ceremony gets underway but like Ancelotti said, Neymar, Suarez and James could be a lot closer given their performances and influence on the game.