Cristiano Ronaldo’s Position Revealed As Lionel Messi Win Prestigious 2021 Ballon d’Or

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Position Revealed As Lionel Messi Win Prestigious 2021 Ballon d’Or

  • Cristiano Ronaldo was left out of the top five players in the world during the 2021 Ballon d’Or gala night in France
  • The striker found the back of the net 29 times for Juventus in the Serie A last season and has continued with his blistering form since he returned to Manchester United
  • It is the first time Ronaldo is finishing out of the top three since the year 2010 as he and Messi dominated the awards for over a decade

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Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo fell out of reckoning in this year’s tightly contested Ballon d’Or as the Manchester United striker finished in sixth position, Sports Village Square reports.

The 36-year-old scored 29 goals for Juventus in the Serie A last season and has continued with his blistering form since he returned to Manchester United on summer transfer window deadline day.

CR7 has scored 10 goals in all competition so far this season, but that did not take him past sixth position on the night the 2021 Ballon d’Or was handed to Lionel Messi.

Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo out of top 5 in 2021 Ballon d'Or. Image: Pedja Milosavljevic
Source: Getty Images

Messi wins 2021 Ballon d'Or

Messi has now won the prestigious individual prize for a seventh time having after inspiring Argentina to Copa America glory.

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This year's award was keenly contested as the Argentine beat Robert Lewandowski, who has enjoyed another goal-laden year with Bayern Munich, to win the award.

Messi was one of the favourites to win a record seventh Ballon d'Or and the main man arrived at the venue in Paris for the ceremony along with his wife Antonella Roccuzzo as well as their kids.

The Argentine won his first international honour at the Copa America and switched Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.

Finishing in third position is Chelsea star Jorginho while Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante made up the top five positions respectively.

Mohamed Salah has finished 7th in this year’s Ballon d’Or. The Liverpool forward was widely expected to challenge for the award after a blistering start to the season, scoring 17 goals in all competitions.

Gianluigi Donnarumma has won the Yashin Trophy, the award for best goalkeeper, as the Italian claims the prize after finishing 10th in the Ballon d’Or.

Sergio Ramos tips Messi for Ballon d’Or

Briefly News despite their years of rivalry, Sergio Ramos backed Lionel Messi to win the 2021 Ballon d'Or award.

The two players linked up together at Paris Saint-Germain in the summer on free transfers.

For years, the duo has never seen eye-to-eye in the world of football as they both turned out for rival clubs in the La Liga.

However, Ramos seems to have switched allegiance to the Argentine, revealing that he hopes he wins this year's edition of the Ballon d'Or.

Source: Briefly News

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Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.

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Tshepiso Mametela (Head of Current Affairs Desk) Tshepiso Mametela is a seasoned journalist with eight years of experience writing for online and print publications. He is the Head of Current Affairs at Briefly News. He was a mid-level reporter for The Herald, a senior sports contributor at Opera News SA, and a general reporter for Caxton Local Media’s Bedfordview and Edenvale News and Joburg East Express community titles. He has attended media workshops organised by the Wits Justice Project and Wits Centre for Journalism, including crime and court reporting. Email: tshepiso.mametela@briefly.co.za