Real Boss Zinedine Zidane Hints at Personal Ballon d'Or Pick & it's Not Cristiano Ronaldo

Once again, it is a near forgone conclusion that either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi will take home this year's Ballon D'or award, as the duo continue to transcend footballing logic.

Ronaldo guided Real Madrid to a spectacular double last season, winning the Champions League and La Liga, while Messi has kept up his outrageous goalscoring habits, netting 37 in the league in 2016/17 and adding a Copa Del Rey to his trophy haul.

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It can argued that both Ronaldo and Messi's performances have merited them with the world player of the year award, but ultimately, there can only be one winner.

Ronaldo's club teammate, Isco has unsurprisingly backed his fellow Real Madrid star declaring, "Cristiano has to win it, absolutely," while Chelsea winger Eden Hazard weighed in on the debate, saying, "I think Ronaldo deserves the prize because he won with Portugal, he won La Liga and he won the Champions League."

However, Ronaldo's boss, and former Ballon d'Or winner himself, Zinedine Zidane has steered clear of the usual Messi v Ronaldo debate, largely staying on the fence.

Speaking to Spanish outlet Sport, the frenchman said, "I'm not going to put anyone on the podium. The Ballon d'Or is something else, people vote."

While Zidane tried to remain neutral, he couldn't help giving a little shout out to another one of his stars who hasn't seen as much of the spotlight as Ronaldo.

"I will only tell you that I like Isco a huge amount because he's always creative, he always tries. For me, the player that always tries ends up with success," Zidane added.

25-year-old Isco has struck a rich vein of form for Madrid, and particularly impressed as Los Blancos chased down the league title at the back end of last season. The 2012 Golden Boy award winner has scored twice already this season.