3. Lionel Messi
Messi as he scored his 700th career goal, broke his own record for La Liga assists in a single season but Barcelona may be about to lose La Liga title for the first time in three years and the chaos at the club has led to him to consider his future at Barcelona.
Since the restart after the coronavirus pandemic, Messi has only scored thrice, with two of those goals coming from the penalty spot. The Argentine is enduring his poorest scoring season with Barcelona in 12 years. Messi, however, remains La Liga’s top scorer with 22 goals, five clear of Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema in second place, but the reduction in his scoring rate seems to have had a telling impact on Barcelona’s bid to retain their title. The Argentine is frustrated with the direction in which the Catalan club is headed and has refused talks on an extension of his contract that ends in 2021.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
Juventus attacker Ronaldo endured a miserable return to football in the Coppa Italia as Juventus fell to defeat in the final against Napoli, but has found his form in Serie A.But two wins for Juventus, two long-range goals for Ronaldo as he emphatically snapped back at those who claim his only goals this season have come from the penalty spot.
The Portuguese even managed to find the net from a direct free-kick as the Bianconeri took a huge step towards the Serie A title. Ronaldo is ahead of Rebic in Serie A and has been averaging a goal every 69 minutes. Atalanta’s Josip Ilicic is third on the list with a goal every 89 minutes, followed by Lazio striker Ciro Immobile, who finds the back of the net every 95 minutes.
1. Robert Lewandowski
Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski recently finished the Bundesliga season having notched an astonishing 34 goals in 31 games. He has been one of the deadliest goalscorers in the world over the past decade. The Poland international seems to have stepped his performances up a notch this season. Given he’s the Bundesliga’s all-time leading foreign-born goalscorer and has been finding the net with incredible regularity since arriving in Germany in 2010 – once every 122 Bundesliga minutes over the last decade
If he does claim the prize, Lewandowski would join an exclusive club of just three Bayern players (Gerd Muller, Beckenbauer, Rummenigge) to have been named Ballon d’Or winners. Lewandowski’s best finish to date was his fourth place in 2015 when he came in behind Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar. The first two have won all but one of the Ballon d’Or since 2008, but have not enjoyed such stellar seasons as Lewandowski. He’s scored 45 goals in all competitions this season and leads the European Golden Shoe. Bayern is set to win the league and are probably now front runners for the Champions League.
Who will win the Ballon D’Or finally at the end of the season?