Messi is missing, Ronaldo is not. Why? France Football journalist explains the criticised Ballon d’Or nomination

On Friday, the 30-strong nomination list for the Ballon d’Or was announced. The biggest stir was the fact that Lionel Messi is not on the list, while Cristiano Ronaldo is not. Why is that?

For the first time since 2005, Lionel Messi is missing from the 30-strong nomination to win the Ballon d’Or. This fact has caused a big stir. All the more so given that Cristiano Ronaldo is not missing from the list.

The reality was that Messi was perceived by many stats servers as one of the best players of the whole season. His ranking ensured his place among the elite. Only Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappé and Robert Lewandowski did better than him on WhoScored.

But no one else has managed to get a higher average score than Messi. But that was not taken into account by the creators of the 30-strong nomination. France Football journalist Emmanuel Bojan explained why the Argentine was missing and the Portuguese was not.

In the first place, Bojan said that he respects Messi, however, the new criteria for winning the Ballon d’Or was said not to be tilted in his favour. The new criteria are meant to not look at a player’s entire career and the fact that nominations are chosen based on performance over a season, not a year.

“And then you have to admit that his first season was a big disappointment, both in terms of visual impression and statistics,” says a surprised Bojan, who is quoted by the Daily Mail. For Ronaldo, he says, the statistics say the opposite.

“He has become the all-time top scorer at national level. He was decisive for his team in the Champions League group stage. He scored 18 goals in the Premier League, including two hat-tricks. In total, he scored 32 goals in 49 games. It’s not as many as in his best seasons, but it’s enough to put him in the top 30 players in the world,” Bojan added.

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