7M: 2016 Ballon d'Or Winner? He is better.

Posted Saturday, December 03, 2016 by 7M Sport

Reading the title, some may ask that is it too early to talk about the Ballon d'Or as the winner will usually be announced in January next year. It is true with FIFA Ballon d'Or, but this year, it will be declared within a calendar year, that is on December 13th as France Football assumed their ownership of this award. Then who will be the winner?

New Ballon d'Or

Either Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi has been awarded FIFA Ballon d'Or in the last 6 years. They have even occupied the second place most of the time with the Portuguese star 3 times and the Argentina captain 2 times.

FIFA Ballon d'Or, however, gave the fans an unfair feeling as the voting group included national team captains and coaches, as well as the media representatives. Most of the captains have voted for their national team or club's teammates, and the coaches also had personal preference in such voting. Both of their choices may also be influenced by the respective football associations.

7M: 2016 Ballon d'Or Winner? He is better.

This is finally changed to a fair one in 2016 after FIFA ended their association with the Ballon d'Or earlier this year. And the voting group is of international journalists instead.

Then who will edge out others in this fairest way to decide the winner? We should take a look at the rules first before we can give an answer.

In fact, greater weighting is given to both personal performance and team performance than to player quality, career and characteristic. That means, in 2016, a year of several major competitions, a player's performance and his national team's honors in EURO 2016 will weigh more. Besides, honors in Champions League and major leagues are also important.

With two trophies of 2015-16 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Euro 2016 in his hand, Cristiano looks undoubtedly the winner. But is it true?

Other Competitors

The greatest threat is not from Messi, but from Antoine Griezmann. The France forward played against Cristiano in two finals. One is in UEFA Champions League where Atletico de Madrid lost to Real Madrid through penalty shoot-out. What's worse, Griezmann missed the penalty in regular time. The other is in UEFA Euro 2016 where Portugal beat France to win the final with an extra-time goal.

Other competitors that deserved our attention are Luis Suarez and Bale. The former's national team Uruguay were knocked out from the group stage following a miserable run in Copa America Centenario. And Bale is worse, failing to find the back of the net in 2015-16 UEFA Champions League, and to qualify to the Euro 2016 final following a loss to Portugal.

Lionel Messi

Anyway, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner cannot be forgotten.

Considering the goals, when Cristiano Ronaldo was injured at the beginning of 2016-17 season, Messi already scored 3 goals and collected a Spain Super Cup trophy. What's more, the Barcelona No. 10 scored back-to-back hat-trick in 2016-17 Champions League group games against Celtic and Manchester City.

Compared by Cristiano, Messi is more of a team player. He became the spiritual leader during a long period when Iniesta is out injured. The unpretentious Argentinean even directed some angry words at Los Ches' fans when Luis Suarez and Neymar got hit by bottles after his winning penalty against Valencia.

In fact, Messi is an indispensable member of Barcelona's success. During a period when Iniesta is missing and Andrea Gomes needs more time to integrate himself into the squad, Messi usually moved back into the midfield to organize the attack. And he also dovetailed well with Neymar and Luis Suarez up front, which is known as "MSN", one of the greatest frontlines in history.

The 29-year-old not only played an important role in Barcelona, but also in Argentina national team. During a period when he was missing from 3 World Cup qualifier matches due to injury, Argentina drew minnows Venezuela and Peru back-to-back, and lost to Paraguay. However, when Messi is healthy, Argentina claimed a 1-0 win over Uruguay through a goal from him.

7M: 2016 Ballon d'Or Winner? He is better.

The Argentinean seems better than Cristiano personally, but he failed to match him on team honors.

Barcelona suffered a shock Champions League exit in the quarter final last term. Also, Argentina lost the Copa America Centenario final where the Argentina captain missed the first penalty kick on penalties.

Cristiano Ronaldo

The three-time Ballon d'Or winner looks sharp on the eve of 2016 Ballon d'Or as La Liga's top scorer scored 6 goals in his last 3 La Liga games. Actually, he was also brilliant in the first half of 2016, getting two important trophies and scoring 35 goals in 36 league games, 16 goals in 12 Champions League games and 51 goals in 48 games of all events.

He missed the first leg of the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League semi-final and was far from impressive in the final, though. Cristiano is talisman for Real Madrid.

7M: 2016 Ballon d'Or Winner? He is better.

And his club Real Madrid now sit atop the league after 13 games with 33 points, 6 points ahead of second-placed Barcelona and Sevilla. And the Whites already booked a place in Knock-out stage of 2016-17 UEFA Champions League. Besides, they are participants of 2016 FIFA Club World Cup.

In Euro 2016, the Portugal captain failed to convert his 10 shots into goals in the first 2 group games, though. He scored a brace in the final group game. What's more, he scored a winner and provided 3 assists in the semi-final. Even if he played almost no part in the final, we still remember his touchline show.

What proves he is favorite for this award is that in August, the 31-year-old even claimed the 2015/16 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. Don't forget that this award is also voted by journalists.