Without Messi or Ronaldo : Ballon d’Or winner 2008-2021
Without Messi or Ronaldo : Ballon d’Or winner 2008-2021
Ever since Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or for the first time in 2008, he and Messi have been sweeping everything in front of them year after year.
And as we sit here looking back on 2022, the two can claim 12 Ballon d’Or awards
Did Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominate the football era
Such is their dominance that Luka Modric’s single Ballon d’Or victory in 2018 remains the only occasion any other
player has been able to win prize since they first started doing the business.
However, with the 2022 ceremony coming to an end, and another new winner, Karim Benzema, in October this year,
اقرأ المزيد.. رحيل بيليه أسطورة كرة القدم البرازيلية والعالمية عن عمر ناهز 82 عامًا
The Frenchman was the luckiest and the best after enjoying the 2021/22 star campaign. A season in which he played a key role in leading Real Madrid to La Liga and the Champions League.
But while it was undoubtedly a special year for Benzema, you can bet that few players who have enjoyed equally impressive campaigns and yet ultimately been eclipsed by Messi’s power or Ronaldo’s irreverence will be looked upon with envy. But in the end, it was Benzema who received the award
اقرأ ايضا.. حارس مرمى الأرجنتين يقتني كلب حراسة “خاص” لحراسة ميداليته الذهبية
The player stated that he would have come in second or third in the Behind the Stars voting, and thus, technically, would have claimed and deserved the award
Ballon d’Or winners 2008-2021 with no Messi or Ronaldo
2008: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
2009: Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona)
2010: Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
2011: Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona)
2012: Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
2013: Franck Ribery (Bayern)
2014: Manuel Neuer (Bayern)
2015: Neymar Jr (Barcelona)
2016: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico)
2017: Neymar Jr (Barcelona)
2018: Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
2019: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
2021: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern)
2022: and benzema
Without Messi or Ronaldo : Ballon d’Or winner 2008-2021
Interestingly, then, no player would have managed to win the award on more than two occasions, with Xavi, Iniesta and Neymar all claiming the prize twice.
Bayern would have seen three separate players awarded the gong, one of whom would have been the first goalkeeper to receive the tag of world’s best since Lev Yashin in 1963.
And we also would have seen Liverpool’s Van Dijk become the first centre back since Fabio Cannavaro to do that, too.
The Dutchman had been imperious all season as he guided the Reds to their first Champions League triumph in 14 years. Another unfortunate casualty of Messi’s brilliance.
It really does seem a crime that none of these era-defining stars got their opportunity to be appreciated the way they maybe should have been.
Any other era, and things would have been different. But that’s just testament to the two icons that have ruled the early 21st century.