Who will win the Ballon D’Or 2019- Messi, VVD, Ronaldo?

There is immense speculation about the ultimate winner of the Ballon D’Or 2019, whether it will be Lionel Messi, Virgil Van Djik or Cristiano Ronaldo. Luka Modric won the premier trophy last year, breaking the reign of dominance unleashed by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, either of whom won the Ballon D’Or over the last decade. Will the pattern be repeated this time around?

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have both triumphed 5 times each although they are not the favourites for winning this time around. Netherlands and Liverpool sensation Virgil Van Djik may well be the surprise contender this time around. The defender has already won the UEFA Player of the Year prize, beating both his illustrious peers. Since Liverpool became the Champions of Europe, centre-back and inspirational player Virgil Van Djik has become a favourite for winning the Ballon D’Or this year. He has the best odds till now as per reports. He also won the UEFA Defender of the Season although he missed the FIFA Best Men’s Player award as Lionel Messi won it.

Van Djik played a pivotal role in Liverpool’s win in the Champions League. The only thing is that the Ballon D’Or is rarely given to a centre-back. The last defender winning the title was Fabio Cannavaro back in the year 2006 after Italy won the World Cup and he won the Serie A with Juventus as well. Van Djik missed out on the Nations League trophy as Netherlands were trounced by Portugal in the final. These two factors may prove decisive in the end.

Of course, Lionel Messi remains a firm favourite to win a record 6^th Ballon D’Or title with good odds of doing so. The UEFA Champions League and Copa Del Rey were both lost in the last season and Messi only won the La Liga with Barcelona. Yet, he won the European Golden Shoe, scoring 36 goals although he failed to win the Copa America title for Argentina in the summer. He was also the winner of the Best FIFA Men’s Player in September which may ultimately help him win the Ballon D’Or.

Cristiano Ronaldo did not exactly have the best season with Juventus although he was the top scorer for his Club but not in the whole Serie A. He still has good odds to win a record 6^th Ballon D’Or as well. He won the league title although his chances may be cut short due to the loss in the Champions League. However, Ronaldo led Portugal to the Nations League title this June and this could put him ahead of Messi in the reckoning as opined by experts.

Sadio Mane also has decent chances of winning the Ballon D’Or as opined by some experts. He also has a winner’s medal at the UEFA Champions League like Van Djik along with a fantastic season at Liverpool although he missed out on winning the AFCON with Senegal losing to Algeria in the final match. Mohamed Salah has good odds as well, being Mane’s Liverpool teammate and fellow UEFA Champions League winner. He also won the Golden Boot ahead of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Sadio Mane in the Premier League. He did not win the AFCON with Egypt which is one factor that will be taken into account.

Alisson, the Liverpool and Brazil goal-keeper also has good odds, having won the Champions League in his debut season with Liverpool and also winning the 2018-19 Golden Glove in the English Premier League. He also won the Copa America 2019 with Brazil. He was also the very first goal-keeper to keep an absolutely clean sheet in a Champions League final ever since the year 2010.

Other names in the reckoning

Some other names in the fray include Raheem Sterling who won the English Premier League title and also captained the English national team as they won third position at the Nations League. Kylian Mbappe has good odds although Eden Hazard is also in the reckoning who performed amazingly for Chelsea in the previous season, taking his team to the Europa League triumph, third position in the EPL and runner’s-up at the Carabao Cup. Mbappe won the World Cup sometime earlier with France although he could not go far in the Champions League with PSG.

He was the top scorer in the French league for the season although he missed out on the French Cup. Sergio Aguero has lengthy odds to win the Ballon D’Or after he won the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and EPL league title with Manchester City while surpassing the record set by Alan Shearer for the highest number of hat tricks for any Premier League outfit. Antoine Griezmann is also in the running after he shifted to Barcelona from Atletico Madrid while other names in the fray include Roberto Firmino from Liverpool and Kevin de Bruyne from Manchester City, two of the EPL’s most formidable players at present. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Son Heung-min, Hugo Lloris and Dusan Tadic are also counted in the list of favourites.