When Cristiano Ronaldo won his first Ballon d’Or in 2008, nobody in their right minds could have predicted that this prestigious award would be shared by only two footballers - Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi for 12 times in 13 years. This was also proof of the fact that no two players had dominated world football together for such a long period. It has been quite a privilege to have watched these modern-day legends over the years.
The pandemic played a part in cancelling the Ballon d’Or awards in 2020, which in hindsight could have been conducted due to the fact that football matches were still played and seasons were still completed, albeit with no fans in the stadia. During this period, there was one player who constantly proved doubters wrong by stacking up unbelievable numbers in goals & assists, eventually putting both Cristiano and Leo in his shadows – Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich & Poland. He would have been the outright and unanimous winner for the 2020 award, had it been conducted.
He carried on his form into the 2021-22 season and still is playing arguably the best football of his career. Everyone in the footballing world would have assumed he was a shoo-in for the 2021 award as well. But no, Leo won it (for a record 7th time).
The legend that he is, helping Argentina win the Copa America last season, could not do much to save his club Barcelona over the same period. One could argue that he did not deserve the 2021 award (Franck Ribery & Wesley Sneijder might agree). A comparison of Messi’s 2021 statistics with Alexis Sanchez’ 2016 statistics would support this argument, where Alexis had almost the same number of G/A, competed in the same stages of each competition and he too won the Copa America with Chile! But he did not win the Ballon d’Or that year. The matter is still up for debate.
Is the Ballon d’Or too dependent on the whims and fancies of football journalists? Should it also be a measure of trophies won/statistics, etc.? Has the Ballon d’Or become a Farce?
Maybe.
Maybe not.