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Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably one of the greatest players to ever step on the field. He has scored over 600 club goals and has won numerous trophies. Ronaldo has also won 5 Ballon d'Ors. After playing for Real Madrid for nine years, he moved to Juventus in a €100 million deal, with the hope of a new challenge.
Ronaldo has had a mixed 2018-19 season. Even before the season started, there were mixed predictions on how Ronaldo would perform in Serie A. While many expected him to continue his goalscoring form for Juventus, many assumed that he would struggle, considering that the Serie A was thought to be a more defence-oriented league.
Although he scored 21 goals, which helped Juventus win the league for the 8th consecutive time, Juventus's untimely quarter-final exit to Ajax invited a lot of criticism on both Juventus and Ronaldo.
Having won the Champions League three times in a row at Real, many expected Ronaldo to guide Juventus to the trophy. The Old Lady have not won the Champions League since 1996. Ronaldo not winning the trophy has also severely damaged his hopes of winning a 6th Ballon d' Or.
He will be competing against a host of top players for the Ballon d'Or, such as Lionel Messi, Virgil van Dijk, Raheem Sterling, and Mohamed Salah. Here are 3 ways through which Ronaldo can win the Ballon d'Or.
#1 Ronaldo must win the Nations League with Portugal
The UEFA Nations League is a European competition that was recently introduced in 2018. Portugal have qualified for the semifinals where they will play Switzerland. The other semifinal is between the Netherlands and England.
It is crucial that Ronaldo helps Portugal win this competition. The reason behind this is two-fold.
The first reason why it is important is because it is an international competition, and thus it is deemed more important than club competitions. Also, the last time Portugal won an international competition was the European Championship in 2016, which was their first ever international trophy. That was also the year in which Ronaldo won his 5th Ballon d'Or.
If Portugal wins the Nations League, it might give Ronaldo the upper hand in the race for the Ballon d' Or.
The second reason is that along with Ronaldo, both Van Dijk and Sterling are also in contention for the Ballon d'Or. Sterling has had an amazing season, as he won a domestic treble with Manchester City and is in the England squad for the Nations League semifinal against the Netherlands.
Van Dijk has also had a terrific season. Although his season has not been glittered with trophies such as Sterling's, he has arguably been the world's best defender this season.
He helped Liverpool come 2nd in the Premier League with 97 points, and also has the opportunity to win the Champions League, with Liverpool facing Tottenham in the final. He is also likely to be included in the Netherlands side for the Nations League semifinal.
If Portugal does win the competition, both Sterling and Van Dijk will miss out on an international trophy. This could once again work in favour of Ronaldo.
#2 Argentina must not win the Copa America
Messi shares the same number of Ballon d'Or's as Ronaldo. He has also, like Ronaldo, had a mixed season. He has individually been brilliant for Barcelona. He has helped them win the La Liga title while leading the charts for both goals and assists in the league.
However, a shock 4-0 defeat to Liverpool ended their Champions League hopes. On top of that, they lost 2-1 to Valencia in the final of the Copa Del Rey. This has left Messi with only a single trophy to show for this season. With both Ronaldo and Messi winning their respective leagues with ease, their focus will now be on the international stage.
As previously mentioned, Portugal are in the UEFA Nations League semifinals. Argentina will also be taking part in an international competition - The Copa America. While Messi has amassed numerous trophies at Barcelona, he has not achieved the same with Argentina.
The South American side are known to stumble at the final hurdle. Argentina lost to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final and lost to Chile in both the 2015 and 2016 Copa America final. The lack of international trophies has attracted a lot of criticism towards Messi.
With Messi the favourite for the Ballon d'Or, Ronaldo must hope that Argentina once again loses out on the Copa America. Also, if Portugal win the Nations League, then Ronaldo will outnumber Messi in terms of trophies. With the number of trophies won by a player playing a big part in deciding the Ballon d'Or, Ronaldo might edge Messi to claim the honour.
#3 Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane must not win the Champions League or the African Cup of Nations
Liverpool duo Salah and Mane have had an impressive season. These two players, along with Van Dijk, have been pivotal towards the Reds success this season. Both Salah and Mane have been in fine goalscoring form, with the duo sharing the Premier League Golden Boot award with 22 goals each.
Also, as previously mentioned with Van Dijk, both Salah and Mane will play in the Champions League final.
Along with the League of Nations and the Copa America, the African Cup of Nations will also be held this summer. Both Salah and Mane will be representing Egypt and Senegal respectively.
This means that the players have the opportunity to win 2 trophies within the space of 2 months, which could result in them winning the Ballon d'Or.
Thus for Ronaldo to win the Ballon d'Or, he must hope that Liverpool doesn't win the Champions League, and that neither Egypt or Senegal win the African Cup of Nations.
