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With April rolling in, the 2018/19 season is entering its business end. Performances now, more than ever, will go a long way in deciding the winner of the 2019 Ballon d'Or.
Last month's ranking had a few surprises in store, with the likes of Heung-min Son and Mohamed Salah featuring rather higher on the list than most expected.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi pipped the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe to the top spot in last month's ranking, but will he continue to lead the pack this month as well or will there be a major change at the top?
Also See: La Liga News | La Liga Table | La liga Transfer News
On that note, let's dive in and take a look at the April 2019 edition of the Ballon d'Or Power Rankings.
#10 Jadon Sancho
Jadon Sancho's stunning rise has propelled Borussia Dortmund to the top of the Bundesliga, as they look to finally break the stranglehold Bayern Munich have had on the league trophy since 2012/13.
While Sancho couldn't help Dortmund overturn a massive 3-0 deficit against Spurs in the Champions League, he did inspire his side to victories against the likes of Stuttgart, Hertha Berlin and Wolfsburg.
The 19-year-old notched four assists in league competition in March to take his tally to 13 for the season. He is now the leading assist-provider in Europe's top leagues, surpassing even Lionel Messi; not bad for a 19-year-old eh?
Sancho is also closing in on Kevin De Bruyne's single-season assist record which stands at 21.
The Englishman's performances helped Dortmund steady the ship in the Bundesliga and re-capture the top spot, and they will need more of the same from the youngster if they are to finally usurp Bayern Munich and become kings of Germany.
#9 Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah's slide continues after yet another miserable month of football on a personal level.
The Egyptian was Liverpool's powerhouse last season, netting goals by the truckload and leading his side to victory after victory, however, his form seems to have tailed off this campaign and his struggles in front of goal are quite evident.
Salah failed to find the back of the net even once this past month, missing key chances against the likes of Everton and Fulham.
However, despite the Egyptian King's profligacy, Liverpool did manage to steady the ship in the Premier League, notching three consecutive wins to keep pace with City at the top of the pile.
A historic night in Munich in the Champions League capped off a successful month for Liverpool, but if they are to sustain their title challenge and hope to go all the way in Europe, they need Salah to find his scoring boots.
For now though, he occupies the 9th spot, dropping three places from last month's ranking.
#8 Eden Hazard
Where would Chelsea be without Eden Hazard? Their alarming trend of poor results continued in March, further affecting their chances of securing a top-four berth. They now lie in sixth place, a point behind Spurs and United.
Despite their poor run, though, Hazard continued to perform at an elite level, scoring a late equaliser against Wolves and providing an assist against Fulham.
His introduction in the game against Cardiff also provided Chelsea with some attacking impetus as they huffed and puffed to a controversial 2-1 win.
Hazard's future looks to be away from Stamford Bridge, but he is still putting in some solid displays week in week out, keeping him at the 8th spot on this list.
The Belgian did not feature in Chelsea's Europa League victories against Dynamo Kyiv, but he should play a major role going forward as they enter the business end of the competition.
#7 Paul Pogba
Paul Pogba's initial resurgence under new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was remarkable. The Frenchman was back to doing what does best: controlling the tempo of the match from the midfield.
However, his form has tailed off of late, with the Frenchman failing to impact games as he would have liked to this past month.
Pogba's poor form sees him drop 2 spots from 5th to 7th in this month's ranking, and his abject performances have also coincided with Manchester United's recent struggles.
Pogba missed United's stunning comeback against PSG in the Champions League due to suspension. However, he did feature in all three of United's Premier League games in March as well as their FA Cup tie against Watford, failing to register a single goal or assist.
With the Red Devils scheduled to play Barcelona in the Champions League, they need Pogba to regain some of the form he showed during Solskjaer's initial days as manager if they are to harbour any hopes of progression.
The race for the top four is also heating up and the mercurial Frenchman will play a critical role in ultimately determining the fate of United this season.
#6 Virgil Van Dijk
With Liverpool's famed attack misfiring, the responsibility of keeping the Reds' season on track has fallen on the shoulders of defensive stalwart Virgil Van Dijk, and boy has he delivered.
While Liverpool managed just a single clean sheet in March - away at Everton - Van Dijk's performances remained noteworthy and his displays have seen him make a stunning entry at #6 on this list.
A rather surprising error by the Dutchman against Fulham threatened to derail Liverpool's title challenge briefly, but that's about the only error the former Southampton star has made all season.
Van Dijk's contributions at the other end of the field have been no less important, with the Dutchman producing a goal and assist in Liverpool's historic victory against Bayern in the Champions League to seal their progress.
With important fixtures in the Premier League and Europe coming up, VVD will have to be at his very best if Liverpool are to end the season with some silverware.
#5 Raheem Sterling
Raheem Sterling has played an integral part in Manchester City's dominant run this season, but has somehow slipped under the radar, with the likes of Sergio Aguero and co. hogging the limelight.
Sterling continued his exemplary run of form in March, running rings around Schalke's defenders in their Champions League match-up. The Englishman provided an assist and got on the score sheet as well as City cruised to a 7-0 victory.
However, his biggest contribution came in the game against Watford, with the Citizens struggling to break down a well-drilled Watford side. Sterling took matters into his own hands in the second half, stunning Javi Gracia's men with a quickfire hat-trick to keep City's title challenge on track.
Sterling now has 15 goals and 11 assists in the Premier League this season; impressive numbers indeed.
With City still challenging on all fronts and key fixtures against Tottenham coming up, they will look to Sterling to continue weaving some of his extraordinary magic. Another goal or two and he could end up in the top 3.
#4 Sergio Aguero
There seems to be no stopping Manchester City and Sergio Aguero at the moment. The Sky Blues swept all five games they played in March, powered by top displays from their Argentinian striker.
Aguero netted twice in City's 7-0 thumping of Schalke in the Champions League and also rescued his side in the FA Cup as they stared at an unprecedented early exit at the hands of Swansea.
2-0 down at half-time, Aguero's introduction sparked a revival as he set up Bernardo Silva's opener, before finding the net twice - one was later deemed an own goal - to seal a remarkable turnaround.
His form continued in the league as well as he scored in City's 2-0 victory against Fulham, taking his tally to 19 and moving him up 3 slots to #4 in this month's power rankings.
With City still competing on all fronts and hugely dependant on Aguero's contributions, it won't be a surprise if he finds himself in the top 3 come the end of the season.
#3 Kylian Mbappe
The prodigiously talented Frenchman drops one spot to #3 this month. Kylian Mbappe has been touted to be the one to take over the reins from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the near future and for good reason.
Mbappe continued to shine this past month, notching five more league goals to his name in four appearances in March. Now sitting on a tally of 27 goals, Mbappe is 9 goals clear of Nicolas Pepe in second place.
However, the 20-year-old failed to shine under the bright lights of the Champions League as PSG coughed up another shocker, this time against Manchester United.
Letting slip of a two-goal lead in front of shell-shocked home fans, PSG crashed out of the competition in the round of 16, with Mbappe a major culprit, having missed a couple of absolute sitters to put the game to bed.
That contributes significantly to his slide to #3.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Faced with a mountain to climb against one of the best defences in Europe, Cristiano Ronaldo once again proved that he's by far the best big match player going around, netting a stunning hat-trick to ensure Juventus' progression in the Champions League at the expense of Atletico Madrid.
Ronaldo's stellar effort also moves him up to #2 on this list. The hat-trick against Atletico were the only goals Ronaldo managed in the month of March, with the Portuguese missing out on league fixtures against Genoa and Empoli.
His importance to the side was also highlighted in the fact that Juventus slumped to their first defeat of the season in the Serie A in the one game Ronaldo did not feature.
The Portuguese is quickly closing in on the top spot, and a couple more wondrous displays against Ajax in the Champions League should hold him in good stead heading into the business end of the season.
#1 Lionel Messi
Was there any doubt? The man is 31 and still continues to astound fans with that magical left boot of his.
While Lionel Messi failed to find the net against Real Madrid in LaLiga, he more than made up for it with stunning displays against Vallecano, Betis and Espanyol.
6 league goals in the month of March took the Argentine's tally to 31 goals in just 27 appearances and he is a shoo-in for LaLiga's Golden Boot.
The little magician also left his mark on the Champions League, netting a brace and providing two assists to guide his side past Lyon after a surprising 0-0 draw in the first leg.
Barcelona are closing in on a historic treble and if they do indeed manage to get their hands on three trophies, there is simply nothing that will stop Messi from lifting his sixth Ballon d'Or.
