Wednesday 14 January 2015 14:24, UK
Cristiano Ronaldo was crowned FIFA Ballon d’Or winner on Monday, maintaining the duopoly of the award between himself and runner-up Lionel Messi.
Indeed, the pair have commanded the top two spots for the last four years, with Andres Iniesta the last other player to even secure a runners-up spot back in 2009.
We look at Sky Bet’s 2015 Ballon d’Or odds and consider whether anyone can end the duo’s dominance of the game’s top individual award.
The Barcelona star is considered favourite as he looks to deny his great rival a hat-trick of successive titles. Regaining the award would go a long way to strengthening his case for being considered the greatest player of all time. The 27-year-old was effectively named the game’s best player four successive times from 2009 to 2012, having won both the FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d’Or awards before they were combined for the current title. With the prospect of leading Argentina to Copa America glory in the summer in mind, Sky Bet make him the marginal favourite for this year’s crown. However, could Messi’s murky future at Barcelona prove a problem?
The Real Madrid star claimed 37.66 per cent of all votes from journalists, international coaches and captains, seeing him claim the award for a third time. With his club currently joint-favourites with Bayern Munich for the Champions League and odds-on to win La Liga, Ronaldo is considered more likely than Messi to dominate at club level this season. If the 29-year-old can continue to rack up goals at the current rate and his club can become the first to defend Europe’s top-tier tournament in the competition’s modern format, then he will surely equal Messi’s tally.
The Brazilian forward heads the list of contenders to end the Messi/Ronaldo duopoly. At 22, great expectations sit on his shoulders as Brazil’s star man, with national pride in desperate need of restoring in Chile this summer. Having previously struggled to replicate the prolific levels of scoring produced by Messi and Ronaldo, Neymar has netted 12 times in La Liga this season, just four less than his Argentinian team-mate. The biggest factor could be Messi’s future, with any deal taking him away for Camp Nou heaping even more pressure on his shoulders. Whether that could be the making of him, like some suggest it was for Messi when Ronaldinho moved on, remains to be seen.
Bayern Munich are run-away leaders in the Bundesliga yet again, with Robben playing a starring role with 10 goals to his name. At 30, the flying Dutchman is showing no signs of slowing down and, with Bayern joint-favourites for the Champions League, is at the perfect club to rack up trophies. However, adding the Ballon d’Or to that would require him to significantly increase his goal scoring rate, having failed to even make the shortlist when his club completed their historic treble in 2013.
Best of the rest
Three Premier League players follow in the betting, with Alexis Sanchez, Sergio Aguero and Eden Hazard 22/1 apiece. The trio have each enjoyed impressive starts to the season but are deemed in need of redoubling their efforts in 2015 to work their way into contention. The world’s most expensive player Gareth Bale might look long odds at 25/1 but it’s a big ask for him to step out of Ronaldo’s shadow any time soon.
