Messi and Cristiano: their cards to win the Ballon d’Or in the face of Benzema’s extraordinary present

“Right now, I’m not very far away.”, acknowledged Karim Benzema about the 2021 Ballon d’Or in an interview. The Frenchman is among the 30 finalists to win the award and among the five favorites, according to “L’Equipe”, owner of the magazine “France Football”, which is the organizer of the event. The other candidates? Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho. Everyone has their arguments for running as the best in the world today, but who really is closer to taking the award on November 29?

After a furious start to the season (10 goals and 7 assists in 10 games with Real Madrid), the name of Benzema began to have airs of favoritism for much of the Spanish and French press. Although in the comparison it is still behind Messi and Cristiano, the two kings who continue their eternal fight in the Olympus of football for almost 15 years and still remain in force.

Karim wants to fulfill his dream as a child and win a trophy that a French footballer has not won since Zinedine Zidane won it in 1998. , the ‘Cat’ scratches his numbers to be the best of all.

Being champion of the League of Nations is not a plus either. In 2019, Cristiano won the first edition of the tournament created by UEFA in his quest to eliminate friendlies in European football, but at the end of the year it was Messi who won his sixth Ballon d’Or. That year, the Rosario won the League with Barcelona as Pichichi and top assist, he also finished as a scorer in the Champions League and reached the semifinals of the Copa América.

Messi and Cristiano, ahead of Benzema

Despite the bad start to the season with PSG (he has only scored one goal in five games),

“France Football” has different criteria to consider who is the best, such as individual and collective performance, talent, ‘fair play’ and the footballer’s career. In that sense, Lionel has a certain advantage.

Let’s compare: according to data from BeSoccer, a website specialized in soccer statistics,. Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, has scored 35 goals and gave five goal passes in 49 games. And he only surpasses the Argentine in recovered balls (70). Karim Benzema is close, although he is still behind: 34 goals, 14 assists in 48 games.

“I have two players on my team that I would obviously vote for: Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. Then there are players who individually have had a great season, such as Lewandowski O Benzema, which also had a great year “Leo commented weeks ago in an interview.

“What you have done collectively counts a lot to lift the Ballon d’Or. Lately the titles have a lot of weight, if you won the Champions League, the Eurocup or the America’s Cup”added the ‘Pulga’, asserting the star he conquered in Maracana with Argentina, nothing more and nothing less than defeating Brazil in the final.

The little cover

However, these illustrious names are also joined by lower-profile players, such as Jorginho, champion of the Euro with Italy and the Champions League with Chelsea. He has already won the 2021 UEFA Best Player award and there are voices asking for the Ballon d’Or for him.

“I hope he wins the Ballon d’Or because he is a friend and I will feel that award as mine as Italian. He was key in our scheme and we have won many games thanks to him, ”said Giorgio Chiellini, his teammate in Italy. “In my opinion, the Ballon d’Or has to go to Jorginho or Kanté. I’m fed up, rotten that they give it to Leo Messi. What are you going to tell me that he did this year, win the Copa América, well that’s fine. But say what he did throughout the year with FC Barcelona ”, said Patrick Evra.

“What child does not dream of the Ballon d’Or? Dreaming something small or something big is the same, so it is better to dream something big ”, said Jorginho a few days ago before playing the Nations League finals. He knows that he can be the surprise in the contest.