Ballon d’Or battle in Cardiff
TWO IN LINE FOR BIG AWARD Ronaldo, Buffon in the frame for right to be called the best.
Cristiano Ronaldo heads to tomorrow’s Champions League final against Juventus on the brink of realising a burning ambition of matching Lionel Messi’s record of winning the Ballon d’Or five times.
“I want to catch Messi,” Ronaldo confessed when collecting his third World Player-of-the-Year crown back in 2015.
Now the Portuguese has four to his name, but Messi still remains one step ahead with five.
The two have dominated the award for the past decade in the battle to not just be considered the best of their generation, but among the best of all time.
Yet, while Juventus’ stubborn defence forced Messi to fire blanks in a 3-0 quarterfinal aggregate win for the Italians over Barcelona, Ronaldo can complete another stellar season by ensuring Madrid become the first side to retain the Champions League.
Ronaldo has already added his name to more record books during this season’s Champions League.
His stunning hat-trick against Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals made him the first man to score more than 100 Champions League goals.
And he duly added another hattrick in the semifinals against Atletico Madrid to carry Real to the final in Cardiff tomorrow.
“He has a good opportunity with the season that he has had, above all in the Champions League this year,” Predrag Mijatovic, who scored the winning goal when Real last met Juventus in the Champions League final in 1998, said.
However, the Montenegrin believes Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon could finally end Messi and Ronaldo’s reign if he lifts the Champions League for the first time at 39 to complete the treble for the Italian giants.
“I think the next Ballon d’Or will come from the team that wins the Champions League,” added Mijatovic.
“Cristiano is there, as is Buffon and other great players at Real Madrid like Sergio Ramos that could aspire to it.”
In contrast to Madrid’s previous finals in recent seasons, though, Ronaldo arrives in Cardiff in his best form of the campaign having been spared for a series of league games recently.
Despite Ronaldo missing nine La Liga games in total, Madrid didn’t miss a beat, winning every single one to edge out Barcelona and claim a first league title in five years.
If he adds to his 14 goals in his last nine games against the meanest defence in this season’s Champions League, Ronaldo will likely have his name etched on yet another Ballon d’Or. – AFP