The Stars Impacted Most By Ballon D'Or's Cancellation
The Ballon d'Or won't be awarded for the first time since 1956, another sporting casualty of the coronavirus pandemic confirmed by France Football on Monday.
The reasons are clear and mostly understandable: in this most unusual of years, one in which competitions have either been significantly delayed, altered or canceled entirely, how can a true winner of world soccer's most prestigious individual award be chosen?
“It’s such a strange year that we couldn’t treat it as an ordinary one," France Football editor Pascal Ferré told The Associated Press. “It isn’t a decision we took lightly, but we had to accept it couldn’t be a normal or typical Ballon d’Or winner, and what really worried us it that it wouldn’t be fairly awarded.
“The season started with certain rules and ended with other rules. In January and February, soccer was played in front of full stands. Then from May and June it was with empty stands. Then we had the five substitutes rule and not three. Then other changes happened in terms of the competitions, notably the final eight (eight-team knockout format) for the Champions League when it had started with home and away legs.
“There were loads of changes (to soccer’s rules) which are totally legitimate and which we don’t contest given the worldwide health crisis, but we couldn’t consider this as a typical year. Exceptional circumstances led to an exceptional decision.”
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On one hand, it's odd to discount the soccer that has been played. Place an asterisk next to it if you'd like, but seasons have, for the most part, resumed with titles going to deserving clubs. On the other, the full array of competitions that were supposed to occur this year has been changed (whether it's the postponement of the Euros or the cancellation of some domestic league seasons), so perhaps the outlet has a point.
The women's award, established at long last in 2018, won't be doled out either, with the reasoning having a little bit more clout. Hardly any of the top European leagues were carried out to their completion this season, while NWSL has been reduced to a one-month tournament. The Olympics were postponed. While the resumption of the Women's Champions League is slated for late August, there's really scant evidence, at least as it relates to the elite level of global competition, to go off to crown a top player by comparison.
But the same can't be said for the men's side. We've seen plenty. When looking at the evidence of the past season and the formula for how voters typically pick their winners, a select crew rises to the top. Liverpool, for all its dominance in England, didn't have one single, dominant standout, instead riding collective greatness to a historic title. If Sadio Mane had an international tournament in which he thrived to complement his stellar club play, perhaps he'd be in the mix. Kevin De Bruyne has been sensational for Man City, and if the club winds up winning the Champions League, then perhaps he'd enter the fray too, but nobody whose trophy count is limited to a League Cup is winning the Ballon d'Or. A similar sentiment goes for Kylian Mbappe, who has been wonderful at PSG, but domestic success in France, despite the home-outlet advantage, isn't going to be enough. Go on a run to win the Champions League and be the key aspect of it, then you've got a better case.
That leaves five clear candidates, including the two perennial contenders and a trio of players whose stellar seasons won't be recognized in the form of a golden ball trophy:
ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI
No "outsider" to the award should be more dismayed about Monday's decision than the Polish superstar. Lewandowski was the most consistently prolific player in Europe this season, with an incredible 51 goals in 43 games. Bayern Munich did the domestic double by winning the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal, and it has a foot into the Champions League quarterfinals, with as good a chance as anyone of winning Europe's modified club championship.
In a "normal" year, Poland would have been participating in Euro 2020 as well, giving Lewandowski another outlet to potentially strengthen his case. At 31, Lewandowski still has some explosive years left in him, and Bayern Munich will surely facilitate more opportunities for him on the biggest stages, but it's unclear if the stars will ever align so well for him and whether he can replicate–or surpass–the greatest scoring season of his career.
LIONEL MESSI
Barcelona did not win La Liga, and according to Messi, unless something changes significantly, it won't win the Champions League either. That said, Messi has performed at his typical high level. His 25 league goals may have been his lowest tally since scoring 23 in 2008-2009, but they were still enough to lead all La Liga scorers.
He's the first player in La Liga to ever hit the 20-goal/20-assist mark in a single season, and he's the only player in a top European league to do it this century outside of Thierry Henry (2002-2003). His 21 assists were a Spanish top-flight record. Messi's six Ballon d'Or trophies are the most in history, and this could have been a chance to separate from chief individual rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who has five.
CRISTIANO RONALDO
This has not necessarily been a vintage Ronaldo season, yet the Portuguese star still finds himself in the mix for Serie A's scoring crown, Juventus is likely to win the league again and remains alive in the Champions League, trailing Lyon by a goal heading into the second leg of the last 16.
This has already been his highest domestic-league-scoring season since 2015-16, and, entering Monday, there were still five games left to run. He had scored seven goals in six Serie A games after the restart prior to being blanked on Wednesday vs. Sassuolo, but he remains as dangerous as ever. With a chance to pull even with Messi's Ballon d'Or tally taken off the board, you wonder, given his age (35), how many more years of competing for the top awards Ronaldo will have before he begins to retreat to something resembling a normal footballer. His contract with Juventus runs through 2022, and who knows where he may go from there.
KARIM BENZEMA
Benzema was one of Real Madrid's rocks, putting forth a 21-goal season with the consistency and marksmanship of a true leader. Under Zinedine Zidane's watch, Benzema has been reborn, and at 32, he was as vital to Real Madrid's league success as anyone.
If Real Madrid is able to ride its domestic momentum into the reworked Champions League and oust Man City, there's no telling where Benzema's season could wind up. Unfortunately for him, there won't be an award podium to recognize it.
SERGIO RAMOS
Real Madrid's captain helped will his side to the Spanish summit. Perhaps that's cliche and overdramatic, but the 34-year-old was that significant to the club's title run. As a center back, he scored 11 goals, extending his streak of converted penalties to 22 in a row–including game-winners vs. Getafe and Athletic Bilbao when the race was still in the balance.
He also marshaled Spain's stingiest defense (25 goals conceded). One significant thing that counts against him, aside from the fact that no defender has won the award since 2006: his red card in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 vs. Man City puts his side at an added disadvantage in addition to the 2-1 deficit it faces.
