Ballon d'Or Power Ranking: November 2018

October's in the past now. We had an action-packed month with both club and international footballing action taking over weekends and the Champions League providing us with some magic during the middle of the week.

Last month's rankings with Luka Modric heading the list was a welcome change and the duopoly of Ronaldo and Messi was being browbeaten after a long time. But it could turn out that winning the FIFA Men's Player Award may not be all it takes for the Croatian to go home with the Ballon d'Or.

Cristiano Ronaldo is growing in repute at Juventus and though Lionel Messi had to sit on the sidelines for the greater part of October, you cannot quite rule him out yet. As it stands, it is nearly impossible to make a call as to who's going to go away with the prize that could just settle the debate. Now, as we saunter into the crucial month of November, it's best to brace ourselves for a surprise.

Without further ado, let's dive right into the November edition of the Ballon d'Or Power Ranking.

#10 Harry Kane (-1)

Harry Kane has not been at his very best

The Hurricane of English football has dropped a spot and is on bottom of the list. But then again, this is no ordinary list. Kane has been having a bit of a here-and-there season till now. While he sprang to form in the last week of September and early October, scoring 4 goals in 3 games, he has only managed a solitary goal in the subsequent games.

However, his performance for the 3 Lions against La Furia Roja, where his excellent hold up play resulted in two assists was an absolute masterclass in target man tactics. Kane did well in Spurs' UEFA Champions League fixture against PSV Eindhoven.

He has the quality but he's been close-fisted about it than the rest on this list and that's why we don't see him cracking the top half of the rankings.

#9 N'Golo Kante (+2)

The baby-faced World Cup winning warrior, N'Golo Kante is having a ball in the Premier League. Yet to be defeated in the league, Sarri's Chelsea have had not many teething issues whilst imbibing the Sarriball philosophy.

And that is in large part thanks to the 27-year-old Frenchman, who has managed to thrive despite being outed from his favourite defensive midfield position. The former Leicester City player now plays in a more attacking role but continues to be one of the most menacing opponents one can come up against and is one of the most vital cogs of the Chelsea system.

Kante wasn't on the list last month but his consistency and hard work seems to still be getting him places. The Frenchman enters the shortlist in place of PSG's Edinson Cavani who has struggled for form and is without goals in the last 4 games.

#8 Neymar Jr. (+1)

Neymar will have to pull a rabbit out of the hat to finish on the podium

Shadows aren't too kind to Neymar Jr, eh? This year could have turned out a whole lot better for Neymar if he wasn't nursing an injury towards the latter half of the 2017-18 season.

The Brazilian hasn't been at his very best either with Kylian Mbappe now emerging as a star of equal standing, as per the masses. In October, Neymar only managed a solitary goal but still proved to be instrumental for both Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain by being his team's best player on a couple of occasions.

He also raked in 3 assists and that sees him gain a place and go from 9th to 8th on our ranking but it seems highly likely that Neymar will miss out on the prestigious award this time around.

#7 Antoine Griezmann (-1)

Griezmann and his club did not have a great month

Antoine Griezmann has had an odd month where he showed his quality sporadically. After starting October on a high note with a brace in the UEFA Champions League, he faded a bit before turning up with 2 well-taken goals in a match-winning performance against Germany in the UEFA Nations League.

His form has suffered subsequently, mirroring that of his club's and the World Cup winner has come down from 6th to 7th on our rankings.

Griezmann has 3 trophies to his name but he will need to add a lot more goals before he can make the podium. With just 2 goals and 3 assists to his name from 10 games so far in LaLiga, the race might very well be over for the 27-year-old.

#6 Mohamed Salah (+2)

The Egyptian King has used the month of October to show the world that he is no 'one season wonder'. After a dull start, by his standards, to the campaign, Salah has picked up pace and is slowly growing back into his role as Liverpool's main man.

The 26-year-old has climbed back into the reckoning with a string of impressive performances in October and has moved from 8th to 6th on our rankings.

Though his early season slump could have perhaps taken him out of the final picture, Salah scored 5 goals and embellished it further with 2 assists in his last 4 games to calm the Merseysiders' nerves.

#5 Eden Hazard (-1)

Eden Hazard did not get going in October as we'd expected him to

It would be safe to say that if Chelsea weren't going through such a dull spell in Antonio Conte's sophomore year and they were playing a lot more attacking football, Hazard would have made the podium.

The Belgian's quality is undeniable and in new coach Maurizio Sarri's system, Eden Hazard roars about like the king of the jungle. He's royalty on the pitch and he proves that with every single touch he takes. Leading the Blues' resurgence from the front, Hazard already has 7 goals and 3 assists to his name in the Premier League and is leading the top scorers' chart.

However, we didn't see him at his best in October. With only one goal and one assist to his name, Hazard hasn't exactly come to the fore as we'd have expected him to but he was still impressive on the field and ever so vital to Chelsea's plans. However, he drops from 4th to 5th on our rankings. Cut-throat competition, eh?

#4 Kylian Mbappe (+1)

Kylian Mbappe is electricity. He breathes life into his team like no other. A live wire for the duration of games, at the age of 19, the World Cup winner is already breaking ankles and sending defenders into early retirement.

Mbappe goes from 5th to 4th on our rankings and for good reason. Mbappe scored a whopping 8 goals from 7 appearances (5 starts) and also registered 2 assists. 4 of those goals came in one game- where PSG took Olympique Lyon to the cleaners.

After a dull September which saw him drop to the 5th spot from the 2nd, Mbappe has done himself a world of good and inched closer towards the podium. However, it could have come a bit too late.

#3 Luka Modric (-2)

Luka Modric and Real Madrid have been in poor form

It felt as though it was written in the stars. Luka Modric looked destined to break the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly. He won the Champions League alongside Ronaldo and played a great role in taking Croatia to the World Cup final and won the World Cup Golden Ball. Subsequently, he won the FIFA Men's Player Award and the UEFA Best Player of the Year Award.

However, what unfolded in October was heavily anti-climactic. Real Madrid, going through one of their worst spells in history, has been an embarrassment and Modric has done nothing to help his case. Los Blancos won a solitary game in the month of October. Modric got no goals and provided no assists.

With Madrid sacking their manager Julen Lopetegui, Real Madrid look a long way away from stabilizing once again. And that may have affected Modric more than most as he drops from 1st to 3rd on our rankings.

#2 Lionel Messi (+1)

Lionel Messi has reported back to training after sustaining an injury

The 31-year-old legend picked up an injury on the 20th of October against Sevilla but not before he had already done enough to bury them. Messi played only 3 games in October but he was arguably the best player on the pitch on all 3 occasions.

A brace against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League was followed up with a 90th-minute equalizer against Villareal. He could have gone on to outperform Cristiano Ronaldo if not for the injury but he has done just enough to take the race to the wire.

Messi has climbed from 3rd to 2nd on our rankings and if he starts to score goals at the rate he was right before his injury, we may be in for an exciting finish to the race of the elite.

#1 Cristiano Ronaldo (+1)

At 33 years of age, saying that Cristiano Ronaldo is still a treat to watch would still be criminally understating his class. The Champions League winner had taken his time to settle down at Juventus but it looks like he has and he is starting to exert his influence in Italy.

Ronaldo always has goals to show for it. He scored 4 goals in 4 games for Juventus and given his credentials and exploits in last season's Champions League, earned himself enough rep to go back on top of our rankings. He climbs from 2nd to 1st.

The Portuguese has hardly shown signs of slowing down this season and sits pretty with 7 goals and 4 assists in the Serie A. This could very well be Cristiano's year. Nothing new here.

Edited by Sripad