Ranking the 4 favourites to lift the Ballon d'Or: April 2019
The Ballon d’Or remains the most coveted individual award in world football. It is the highest recognition for footballers across the globe - an award given to the best footballer of the year by France football. The award saw unprecedented domination from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo until Luka Modric broke their duopoly by winning it last year.
After winning the Ballon d'Or five times each, both Messi and Ronaldo bowed down to the excellent Modric, who won the Champions League with Real Madrid and took Croatia to the World Cup final. Modric won the Golden Ball in the World Cup and was awarded the best FIFA men's player, which depicts his dominance last year.
However, it looks like we are coming back to familiar territory this year but with the presence of a few new faces. Modric's Real Madrid is already out from the Champions League and Copa Del Rey, with the Croatian enduring a tough season. Meanwhile, both Ronaldo and Messi continues to wreak havoc, despite being in their 30s.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the four resounding favourites to lift the Ballon d'Or at the end of the year.
#1 Lionel Messi
Since the start of the 2018/19 campaign, the Argentine genius has proved himself to be superior to any of his competitors. As his staggering statistics depict, the Barcelona talisman is head and shoulders above anyone else as he guides the Blaugrana in their quest for another treble.
The 31-year-old Argentine genius is the highest scorer in Europe with a massive 41 goals in all competitions already. Messi also leads the race for European Golden Boot, having scored more than anyone else in Europe's top five leagues.
He is the highest scorer in La Liga with 31 goals and the joint-highest scorer in the Champions League with 8 goals. But what is truly amazing is the fact that Messi is leading in the assist charts as well, with 14 of those coming in LaLiga.
Simply put, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner is well on his quest for another one and no one has shown the consistency to match him so far.