A lengthy period of speculation has followed in the weeks since the Ballon d’Or shortlists were revealed in early October.
The fact last year’s awards ceremony was cancelled has also added to the anticipation, but the wait is almost over.
The winner of the men’s Ballon d’Or has come down to what many believe will be a two-horse race, with Lionel Messi initially deemed the favourite following his Copa America-winning exploits in the summer with Argentina.
However, Robert Lewandowski’s odds have tumbled, and while many believed the Bayern Munich striker was cruelly denied the 2020 award, his form this year has made him a worthy contender and the most likely player to deny Messi a seventh Ballon d’Or.
Chelsea duo Jorginho and N’Golo Kante could be in with a shout, but they will probably be competing with Karim Benzema, Mohamed Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo for third.
Meanwhile, the women’s award is also difficult to call, with Barcelona’s treble-winning exploits last season meaning Uefa Women’s Player of the Year Alexia Putellas is arguably the frontrunner ahead of teammates Jenni Hermoso and Lieke Martens.
Expect WSL duo Vivianne Miedema and Sam Kerr to be there or there abouts too, but a Barcelona 1-2-3 on the podium could well be possible despite the fact Aitana Bonmati and Caroline Graham Hansen were surprisingly omitted from the shortlist.
When is the Ballon d’Or 2021 announced?
The men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or winners will be crowned at a gala event at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris on Monday 29 November.
The event will also hand out the Kopa Trophy, given to the best men’s player under 21, and the Yashin Trophy, handed to the best goalkeeper.
How to watch the Ballon d’Or ceremony
The event will be streamed live on L’Equipe’s YouTube channel from 7.30pm GMT on Monday.
Eurosport will also be streaming the ceremony on their website and the Eurosport app from 7.30pm, and it is set to run until around 9pm GMT.
Just one last thing…
— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@francefootball) November 22, 2021#ballondor pic.twitter.com/a4vI0adeAC
Men’s Ballon d’Or shortlist
- Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
- Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan)
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
- Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
- Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
- Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
- Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain)
- Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
- Phil Foden (Manchester City)
- Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
- Jorginho (Chelsea)
- Harry Kane (Tottenham)
- N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)
- Simon Kjaer (AC Milan)
- Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
- Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea)
- Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
- Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)
- Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
- Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)
- Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
- Gerard Moreno (Villarreal)
- Mason Mount (Chelsea)
- Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)
- Pedri (Barcelona)
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
- Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
- Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid)
Ballon d’Or 2020 odds
- Lionel Messi – 7-10
- Robert Lewandowski – 7-5
- Jorginho – 30-1
- Mohamed Salah – 38-1
- Karim Benzema – 50-1
- Cristiano Ronaldo – 65-1
- N’Golo Kante – 100-1
Odds via Betfair on 29 October
Analysis: Lewandowski leading the way at 33
By Daniel Storey, i chief football writer
For Robert Lewandowski, repetition is the only secret. You start with instinct, a natural aptitude for striking a ball and being in the right position to receive it, and then you hone it through repetition. Every training session, every day: make the run, take the touch, work out where the goalkeeper wants you to shoot, work out where you want him to think you are shooting. And the repetition never stops, because you are aiming for perfection in a sphere where perfection doesn’t exist.
Still, Lewandowski has come close over the last 12 months. There are more naturally talented players in world football; he would happily accept that. But there are none who have been as consistently dominant over his opponents of late. After six straight seasons of scoring 40 or more goals in all competitions, Lewandowski went into overdrive. Gerd Muller’s Bundesliga record, once considered a permanent statue to Der Bomber’s majesty, has fallen.
It’s only a vague theory, but you wonder whether lockdown inspired this ludicrous prolificacy. While others rested and recuperated, Lewandowski had a window in which to focus on his obsession of self-improvement. The stories of his monastic dedication, from eating his dessert before main course to enable better digestion to sleep therapists to physical education degrees, have become folklore. Since the return of German football in May 2020, Lewandowski has scored 89 goals in 73 matches. Even in the age of Messi and Ronaldo, during which our expectations of elite goalscoring was shifted by two coexisting freaks, he is leading the way.
And he is leading the way at 33. Even if the chances come more freely when your club dominates its domestic league; even if the team has learned that creating chances for you is its easiest route to victory; even at a time when sports science and nutrition has extended the length of elite performance – it is still not normal to peak in your 30s.
He may not win the Ballon d’Or; just another year in which he is beaten by one of the two super-freaks of the modern game. This might be his last chance. He will eventually slow down soon; not even he can slow down the passing of time. But until then, he will keep doing what he does, over and over and over again: make the run, take the touch, work out where the goalkeeper wants you to shoot, work out where you want him to think you are shooting.
Women’s Ballon d’Or shortlist
- Kadidiatou Diani (PSG)
- Fran Kirby (Chelsea)
- Jennifer Hermoso (Barcelona)
- Christiane Endler (Lyon)
- Christine Sinclair (Thorns FC)
- Ashley Lawrence (PSG)
- Irene Paredes (PSG, Barcelona)
- Jessie Fleming (Chelsea)
- Lieke Martens (Barcelona)
- Sandra Panos ( Barcelona)
- Viviane Miedema (Arsenal)
- Ellen White (Manchester City)
- Pernille Harder (Chelsea )
- Samantha Mewis (North Carolina Courage)
- Wendie Renard (LyonL)
- Marie-Antoinette Katoto (PSG)
- Stina Blackstenius (Häcken)
- Magdalena Eriksson (Chelsea)
- Sam Kerr (Chelsea)
- Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2ZmHevs
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