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Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious individual award in football. Some of the world's finest footballers fight every season to get their hands on the award. Luka Modric has claimed it in 2018 after delivering some sensational performances for his club and country. Modric played a crucial role for Real Madrid as they won the Champions League again and he also helped Croatia reach the finals of FIFA World Cup.
Despite Modric breaking the duopoly of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the individual awards, it is hard to talk about Ballon d'Or without them. Messi and Ronaldo have dominated world football over a decade with their extraterrestrial abilities and they have won the award five times each. In the current season, Messi has been by far the best performer and remains a huge favourite to win the award for a record 6th time.
The 31-year-old has consistently proven that he is on another level by displaying outstanding performances almost every week. Thanks to Messi, Barcelona secured the league title with few games to go and Messi also played a decisive role as the Catalan giants reached the finals of Copa Del Rey.
The Argentine genius leads the race for European Golden Shoe with 34 goals and also leads the Champions League scoring charts with 12 goals. However, there are still a few obstacles which may prevent Messi from lifting the award despite having a stellar individual campaign.
Without further ado, let us take a look at three things which can hamper Messi's chance of winning the award this year.
#3 Failure in the Copa America
After the abysmal World Cup campaign, Messi took a break from featuring for his national team. His return to Argentina this year was marred with an uninspiring defeat against Venezuela and his injury. It is crystal clear that Argentina have not improved much and the albiceste won't start as favourites in the upcoming Copa America tournament.
Whereas Messi won plethora of trophies with Barcelona, a major silverware with his national team remains his kryptonite. The Blaugrana captain will have another chance to win something with Argentina but evidently, the team's chemistry is nothing like that of Barcelona's.
It will be another uphill task for Messi to win the Copa America after consistent failures in the past. Another major failure with his national team will hamper his chances of winning the Ballon d'Or.
#2 Rise of Virgil van Dijk and other competitors
Although Messi's arch rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, remains a major competitor for the award, there is intense competition from numerous stars this time around. The major threat to Lionel Messi's quest for Ballon d'Or is Virgil van Dijk but one cannot ignore the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Mohamed Salah, who are not far behind.
The Dutch center-back won the PFA players' player of the year and it depicts how pivotal van Dijk has been for Liverpool this season. The Reds have conceded just 22 goals in the Premier League campaign so far, which is the best defensive record in the current campaign. van Dijk's impact has been the key for Liverpool, who are second in the league table and they are also in the final of Champions League.
Despite suffering a three-match ban in the French top flight, Kylian Mbappe remains the closest competitor to Lionel Messi in terms of statistics. Mbappe is second in the race for European Golden Shoe with 30 league goals and he has already secured the Ligue 1 title for PSG. Meanwhile, Salah has racked up 26 goals and 13 assists in all competition and he will make a major case for himself, if Liverpool wins the Champions League or Premier League title.
#1 European failure
We have all seen some sensational comebacks in the UEFA Champions League campaign this season. Arguably, the most shocking of them will be Barcelona's 4-0 defeat against Liverpool in the semi-final return leg which helped the Reds qualify for the finals of the competition. It is second year in a row where the Catalan giants have failed to keep a three goal lead in the Champions League knockout stages.
Barcelona led by Messi is still on course for a domestic double after having already secured the league title. But we have seen in the past few years that domestic success is not enough for players to win the Ballon d'Or. On the other hand, the success in the Champions League is absolutely necessary.
It goes without saying that the Champions League plays a major role in deciding the Ballon d'Or winner. In fact, the winners of the award in the last five years had won the Champions League with their respective clubs. Another catastrophic failure at the Champions League this campaign will obviously had an effect and hinder Messi's chances of lifting the 6th Ballon d'Or.
