5 reasons why Lionel Messi will not win the Ballon d'Or in 2018

#1 Cristiano Ronaldo's revival

Ronaldo has been in sublime form in the latter half of the season

For a decade, the battle for the Ballon d'Or always narrowed down to two players - Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. And for the first half of the 2017-18 campaign, the Portuguese wizard was not even in the running.

He was in abysmal form and was criticized heavily. However, Ronaldo turned things around like only he can in the second half of the season. Ronaldo has been scoring goals for fun and especially in the Champions League, he has been absolutely unstoppable.

Ronaldo made up for lost time and then some as he finished his La Liga campaign with a staggering 25 goals and 5 assists from just 26 games. This is after he got through the first half of the season with just one goal to his name.

Ronaldo's numbers in the Champions League are unmatched. He has scored a whopping 15 goals and has provided 3 assists in 12 Champions League games this season. He might very well go on to win the Champions League with Real Madrid as they are the hot favourites after having won Europe's elite competition thrice in the last 4 years.

If Ronaldo goes on to win the Champions League, that will most certainly make him the favourite to win the Ballon d'Or ahead of Lionel Messi.