After a year's hiatus due to Covid, the Ballon d'Or will be making a comeback in 2021. Although, in theory, the most prestigious of individual trophies rewards the world's best player over a calendar year in December, it is often the previous season that is judged.
In 2019, for example, the list of nominees was published in October, and voting took place in the following weeks. In other words, the 2020-2021 financial year, and the major international competitions that have just ended, will serve as a benchmark. And some players - especially one - are already well ahead of the game...
Messi: the Copa America that could (should?) make the difference
The Rosario genius has already won the Ballon d'Or six times, without having won a single major competition with Argentina. And now that his Albiceleste tally is unblocked, the seventh trophy looks more than within his grasp...
Best player of the Copa America, joint top scorer and best passer of the ball, Messi finally got everyone to agree, wearing the national team jersey on his shoulders, and was also congratulated by Neymar, the unfortunate finalist.
That's enough to strike a chord with the voters, especially as La Pulga is coming off a fine season with Barça. Despite a false start in the summer of 2020 and a slow start to the autumn, the Argentinian finished the 2020-2021 campaign with 38 goals (including 30 in La Liga) and 14 assists. So yes, he only lifted the Copa del Rey, not La Liga or the Champions League. But it's still a solid record. Enough, at least, to make him the number 1 favourite.
Jorginho: two top competitions in the bag, but one thing missing
With Chelsea's Champions League triumph and Italy's Euro triumph, there are only two players this season to have won the two biggest competitions on the Old Continent: Emerson and Jorginho.
Given the former's playing time at club level (88 minutes in the Premier League), his case is quickly settled. As for Jorginho, the debate is wide open. Paired up with N'Golo Kanté for the Blues, and with Marco Verratti and Nicolo Barella in recent matches for the Nazionale, the midfielder has proved that he is a well-rounded, hard-working player who doesn't mind working in the background.
But this last point is also his "weakness" in the race for the Ballon d'Or. Jorginho is never one of his team's star players, nor is he a stats player (8 goals, 2 assists this season with Chelsea). The more fussy will also criticise him for missing his penalty against England.
Asked after the game about the Ballon d'Or, the Brazilian by birth did not seem to believe in it himself. "I don't want to talk about it, I don't want to think about it. I don't want to talk about it, I don't want to think about it, I just want to enjoy this moment with the others."
Kanté, Mbappé, Benzema: France's Euro campaign takes its toll
And what about Les Bleus? With their elimination at the hands of Switzerland in the last 16 of the Euros, they seem to be a little out of the game... Before the competition, there were three credible contenders: N'Golo Kanté, Kylian Mbappé and Karim Benzema.
Kanté has been sparkling for Chelsea this season, and was on a roll just after the Champions League final. But he looked exhausted during Euro 2021, and was unable to regain that level with the French national team. Perhaps it's also because he didn't have the same players alongside him, as Paul Pogba doesn't have the profile of Jorginho.
Mbappé was a self-proclaimed candidate for the Ballon d'Or after a successful 2020-2021 campaign (42 goals for PSG), but he failed to score a single goal during the Euros, and ended the competition with an image clouded by clumsy statements.
As for Benzema, he has nothing to reproach himself for with Real (30 goals), and nothing to reproach himself for with Les Bleus this summer either (4 goals). But here he is, finishing the season without having won a single competition.
De Bruyne, Kane, Donnarumma, Lewandowski, Ronaldo: other candidates in ambush
If Belgium had won the UEFA European Championship, Kevin De Bruyne would undoubtedly have been Lionel Messi's number 1 rival on Monday, if not the favourite, given that he was coming off a fine season with Manchester City, despite a number of fitness problems. After appearing in the middle of the group phase at the UEFA EURO 2008, the Devils' playmaker was immediately decisive, but was unable to prevent defeat by Italy in the quarter-finals. Romelu Lukaku, who won Serie A with Inter before the UEFA EURO, has shown that he is one of the most complete centre-forwards on the planet.
On the English side, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling were in the limelight with the Three Lions. But they lost the final. What's more, the former only finished 7th in the Premier League with Tottenham, while the latter endured some rather complicated months at City under Pep Guardiola.
Like Jorginho, Gianluigi Donnarumma can boast of having triumphed at Wembley. He even finished the Euro with the best player award in his hands, after a fine season in Serie A with AC Milan (2nd behind Inter). But the future Parisian is a goalkeeper, which never helps when it comes to the Ballon d'Or, and has yet to play a single Champions League match.
Robert Lewandowski, who would probably have been the winner in 2020 before it was cancelled, had another top-class 2020-2021 season, scoring 48 goals for Bayern, winning the Bundesliga, the Club World Cup and a fine run in the Champions League before being eliminated in the quarter-finals, where he was injured. He also scored three goals in the group phase of the Euro, with modest Poland, but he could not avoid going out in the first round. It's not his fault, but it's what should lose him votes.
Then there's Cristiano Ronaldo. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has only lifted the Italian Cup and Supercup this season, and his appetite for goals doesn't always do his team any favours, but he scores, again and again... 36 times with the Old Lady, 5 more times at Euro 2021 with Portugal, to finish joint top scorer. All of which is sure to score big points in the votes of observers.
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