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What's the story?
Croatia captain Luka Modric has spoken about his season so far and the Ballon d'Or. He remains a favourite to claim the accolade this year.
The Real Madrid midfield maestro has stated that even if he's not crowned as the winner of the prestigious award, it will change nothing, although he feels proud to be able to fight for the honour.
In case you didn't know...
Former AC Milan star Kaka was the last player to win Ballon d'Or in 2007 before Ronaldo and Messi dominated the award for a decade, taking home the coveted trophy 5 times apiece.
This year, after winning a series of individual awards including the Golden Ball at the World Cup, UEFA Player of the Year and FIFA's Best Men's Player award, Modric is being tipped to end the Messi-Ronaldo dominion at the Ballon d'Or awards.
Modric is having the season of his life so far. He played a pivotal role in guiding his nation to the their first ever World Cup final, and he also claimed a third consecutive Champions League trophy with Los Blancos.
The heart of the matter
Luka Modric has enjoyed a great year with Croatia so far and bagged one assist in their 3-2 victory over Spain in their UEFA Nations League fixture.
Speaking after the match, he insisted that this has been his best year so far and losing out on Ballon d'Or won't change that.
Dailymail quoted him saying:
"With or without the Ballon d'Or, it's the best year of my career."
"I'm very proud to fight for it. If I win perfect, otherwise it will not change anything."
Speaking on the recent events at Santiago Bernabeu and the appointment of Santiago Solari as their new manager, he said:
“Since Solari came, we started well. You can see in these four games, he arrival has been very good and hopefully we will continue like this."
What's next?
Modric also said that he is feeling much better now, after seeing a drop in form and fitness at the beginning of the season. He claimed:
“I feel better day by day, I came back very soon after the World Cup and without pre-season it was normal for me to come back, I feel physically better in the last few matches.”
Recently, The Sun reported that Eric Mamruth, a journalist with RFI, 'leaked' the top three as per the voting for the Ballon d'Or, with Modric being one of them.
The Ballon d'Or winner is set to be announced on 3 December by France Football in Paris.
