3 reasons why Cristiano Ronaldo is leading the Ballon d'Or race

Cristiano Ronaldo's start to the 2017/18 campaign couldn't have been more underwhelming. He slipped, stuttered and was in abysmal goalscoring form. It really couldn't have gone any worse. Ronaldo was even written off in several quarters.

However, he kept scoring goals in the Champions League. And since the turn of the year, he started scoring goals for fun in the La Liga.

In fact, his exploits ensured a 3rd placed finish in the Spanish top flight. His electric form in the Champions League earned Real Madrid a hattrick Champions League trophy. Simply put, ever since he found his goalscoring boots, there has been no looking back for Cristiano Ronaldo.

He even scored that wonder bicycle kick against Juventus which earned him an applause from the Juve fans in the stands. Moments like that are reserved for true champions only.

Without further ado, let's take a look at 3 reasons why Cristiano Ronaldo is leading the Ballon d'Or race.

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#3 Better goal ratio than Lionel Messi

2 of the greatest players of all time

Lionel Messi scored 45 goals across all competitions in the 2017-18 campaign. Cristiano Ronaldo scored 43. But here's the kicker. Ronaldo scored his 43 goals from 42 matches. Meanwhile, Messi scored his 45 goals from 52 games.

If Lionel Messi is Cristiano Ronaldo's main competition, then this stat suggests that Cristiano Ronaldo has been better in scoring goals than his Barcelona counterpart.

Ballon d'Or is awarded for achievements in a calendar year and this works in Ronaldo's favour greatly. As mentioned before, Ronaldo switched gears in the blink of an eye. Since the turn of the year, Ronaldo scored 26 goals in 19 games while Messi scored 24 in 26.

Ronaldo's Portugal also look like a much better team than Messi's Argentina as they both prepare to take part in the World Cup. If Ronaldo can keep his form going and score goals that will propel Portugal to greatness, there will be no doubt as to who is going to take hom the next Ballon d'Or.

#2 Top Champions League goalscorer by quite a margin

Ronaldo was nearly unstoppable in the Champions League

Cristiano Ronaldo did not score in either of the two legs of the Champions League semifinal against Bayern Munich. Neither did he score in the final in Kiev against Liverpool. But he ended his Champions League campaign with 15 goals from 13 appearances. Those are numbers that can evoke envy in even Lionel Messi.

That also means that Ronaldo first racked up those 15 goals in 10 appearances. That's a goalscoring rate of 1.5 goals per game which is absolutely astounding especially as it came in the Champions League.

Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane share the second spot with 10 goals- 5 goals less than Ronaldo in a competition where only a few matches between the very best in the business.

Ronaldo was the second top scorer in La Liga and the top scorer in the Champions League. Though Messi was the top scorer in La Liga, Messi is not even in the top 10 goalscorers in the Champions League and that will dent his chances greatly.

#1 Won the Champions League

Ronaldo poses with the Champions League title

If you look at the recent Ballon d'Or votings, you'll understand that a great amount of emphasis is placed on Europe's elite competition. The continental tournament holds, perhaps, the biggest weight when it comes to dictating who the award goes to.

Ronaldo won it in the last 2 years and he had won the Champions League in those seasons. In the season before that, Barcelona won the Champions League and Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or. In the season before that, Real Madrid won the Champions League and Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or.

As you can see, it is clear that the Champions League title holds way more weight than domestic glory and given that Ronaldo has won the Champions League title while being up to his usual antics and scoring goals for fun, it looks like Ronaldo is way ahead of his competitors in the Ballon d'Or race.