Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez - Who actually deserves the Ballon d'Or this year?

Football is a team sport, but there is so much debate every year as to who the FIFA Ballon d’Or winner should be. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi fans, in particular, seem to value the Ballon D’Or prize more than any actual trophies they might have won with their respective clubs or countries.

However, there is no denying the fact that the Ballon d’Or award is the game’s most prestigious individual prize and it is no doubt an extremely important event in a competitive footballer’s life.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have dominated the award winning the last 8 editions, with the Argentine winning 5 of them. This year, the Ballon d’Or promises to be an intriguing tussle. The usual suspects Messi and Ronaldo are as always the favourites. However, a case can also definitely be made for the two standout forwards of this year - Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann.

Let us analyse each contender and find out who actually deserves the Ballon d'Or this year:

Luis Suarez

The Barcelona number 9 has arguably taken his game to new heights ever since he completed a big-money transfer from Liverpool to Catalonia. Scoring and setting up goals for fun, Suarez even outscored Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Antoine Griezmann in the La Liga scoring 40 goals in 35 games, winning the Pichichi award.

Supremely talented and tenacious, Luis Suarez always gives more than a 100% on the pitch. Known for his direct running and skillful dribbles, Luis Suarez tormented defenders all over Europe nutmegging them at will and scoring some spectacular goals as well.

If we consider the La Liga alone, Suarez leads the goalscoring as well as assists chart having made an incredible 16 assists along with scoring 40 goals. Many times in the season, Suarez was easily the best player on the pitch outshining his more illustrious team-mate Lionel Messi.

In fact, Suarez played so well that he was made the side’s number 9 ahead of Leo Messi who had played there for the last few seasons. He himself seemed surprised by that fact:

"I never imagined playing in this position because Leo (Messi) was playing as the No.9, and I thought, 'where are they going to play me?',"

Suarez’s contributions are not only restricted to the attacking side of the pitch. Always a team player, the Uruguayan can often be seen flying into tackles and working hard for the team when Barcelona relinquish possession.

A complete team player who never fails to give credit to Messi and Neymar, Suarez might actually have outshone both Messi and Neymar for Barcelona this season. But, he might end up missing on the Ballon d’Or because of his injury at Copa America which prevented him from making an impact for his country.

Also, Suarez is always viewed with a slightly different perspective and although he has been on his best behaviour this season, he might end up not getting enough votes because of his past misdemeanours.

With 3 months of football yet to be played, Suarez can stake his claim for the top individual prize by continuing to do what he does best - score goals and cause havoc to the opposition defences.

Antoine Griezmann

The France and Atletico Madrid forward has had a bittersweet year. Undoubtedly Atletico’s star man, Griezmann narrowly missed out on the La Liga, Champions League and the Euros.

Although he missed out narrowly on all the major trophies, Griezmann captured the imagination of football fans all over the world with his wonderful performances for both Atletico Madrid and France.

Winner of the Golden Boot award in the Euros, Griezmann has been compared with some of France’s best players such as Thierry Henry and Michel Platini. He now has more goals than the legendary Zinedine Zidane and the same number of goals for France as Henry.

Griezmann was also Atletico’s talisman in the La Liga scoring 22 goals and getting 5 assists. He also had the best defensive contribution among Ronaldo, Messi and Suarez having made an astonishing 42 successful tackles 24 more than his closest rival Luis Suarez.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger considers Griezmann to be one of the favourites for the Ballon d’Or:

"Griezmann for me is one of the candidates for the Golden Ball [Ballon d'Or]," Wenger told Konbini "In Spain, he is not far from Ronaldo and Messi.

"Age is on his side and look at the Euros: six goals, three or four assists -- these stats are not nothing.

"This year he went to the Champions League final by scoring in all the big games, not to mention that he scored 22 goals in La Liga. So yes, why not the Ballon d'Or?"

The only thing holding back the Fench star has been his lack of impact in the big games, most notably the Champions League and Euro 2016 finals. Girezmann missed a crucial penalty in the Champions League final and he also spurned some good chances in the Euro final.

Also, a lack of any major trophy this season might see Griezmann lose out on the Ballon d’Or this year.

Lionel Messi

One of the two standout players of this generation, Lionel Messi has had another solid season for Barcelona and Argentina this year. Although most of us will remember Messi exiting the field in tears after Argentina’s loss to Chile in the Copa America final, one cannot discount the fact that the Argentine maestro was arguably the player of the tournament.

Playing in a wider role for Barcelona after Luis Enrique's arrival, Messi is arguably even more dangerous now than he was under Pep as he is capable of scoring and creating with equal ease. Blessed with a magical left foot, unbelievable close control and silky dribbling skills, Lionel Messi is quite close to being the perfect footballer.

With 26 goals, 16 assists and 72 chances created, Lionel Messi was once again crucial in Barcelona’s stunning double this season. His performances in the La Liga and Copa Del Rey were simply astonishing and he even had a very good Copa America campaign scoring 5 goals which included a 19-minute hat-trick against Panama.

But, Messi had a poor Champions League campaign by his lofty standards and even though he scored 6 goals in 7 Champions League games, he did not perform to the expected standards in the big games.

Football fans have a notoriously short memory and for many of them, the image of Lionel Messi missing the penalty in the Copa America final will be etched in their minds. With Suarez arguably having a better La Liga campaign and Messi failing to inspire Argentina to a Copa America triumph, the prospect of winning the Ballon d’Or for the sixth time currently looks slightly bleak for one of the greatest players of all time.

Cristiano Ronaldo

The favourite by a long way to win the Ballon d’Or this year, Cristiano Ronaldo has had a season to remember. After having a slow start to the campaign by his standards, Cristiano Ronaldo burst into life in the latter part of the season guiding Real Madrid to a sensational Champions League triumph.

Ronaldo had a huge impact under Zidane notably inspiring Madrid to a superb second leg Champions League quarter-final win over Wolfsburg where he scored a hat-trick. He also scored in the El Clasico to hand 10-man Real Madrid a memorable 2-1 win over their eternal rivals Barcelona.

The crowning jewel of Ronaldo’s season came at the Euros where his Portugal side finally won the tournament after a mixed start. The Madrid superstar played a key role notably scoring a thumping header in the semi-final against Wales. Although he was injured in the first half in the final, images of him shouting animatedly in the dying minutes of the final is one of the most iconic moments of the tournament.

The one thing which can go against Ronaldo is the fact that the voting for the Ballon d’Or is more than 3 months away and each of the above-mentioned players are capable of changing people's opinions.

Verdict

Due to the Champions League and Euro 2016 triumph, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or. Although the Barcelona duo of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez managed to win a very impressive double, Ronaldo’s achievements are arguably greater than both of them.

Luis Suarez was the main attacking threat of the Barcelona side this season and although the Uruguayan did not take part in the Copa America Centenario, he arguably had a greater impact than Messi for Barcelona. What tilts the scales in the favour of Messi is the fact that his superb performances guided Argentina to another major final. However, Messi did look jaded for Barcelona this season and Luis Suarez currently just edges the legendary Argentine.

Finally, we have Antoine Griezmann. The Frenchman elevated Atletico Madrid from a very good side to a great side and he was also the Golden Boot winner at the Euros. However, a lack of any major trophy despite his best efforts makes it very hard for the Frenchman to claim the top prize.

Deserved standings:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

2. Luis Suarez

3. Lionel Messi

4. Antoine Griezmann

Predicted Standings:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

2. Lionel Messi

3. Antoine Griezmann

4. Luis Suarez

I predict that the Ballon d’Or race will again be dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo with the Portuguese star claiming his fourth Ballon d’Or.