The Golden Ball for Benzema, Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski or Jorginho? Their strengths and weaknesses

Among men, five players stand out this year as favorites for the prestigious trophy, according to Radio France Sports Director Nathalie Iannetta: the “usual” Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but also Robert Lewandowski, Jorginho … not to mention Karim Benzema. Overview of the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Benzema: style and longevity

Karim Benzema’s main asset is his style, his season and his longevity. His style because he is a “nine and a half”, that is to say that he is both the goalscorer and the passer. He knows how to serve others. He did this for years when he was alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid. But he is also insatiable in front of the goal. He carried Madrid almost alone, at arm’s length, last year, he became the real technical leader of the Madrid team. Benzema style? All you have to do is close your eyes: imagine the ball dragging a little, Benzema’s big body bringing him back in a movement that belongs only to him, he arms and he scores. And that is unique. It is the mark “KB 9”.

Benzema is also to last at the highest level in a club with infinite demands, to go through a period of crisis banished from his own country and his selection to end up returning with the humility which is surely the mark of the most big. He lacks a supreme title, which he wants to get with the France team. It may be in November 2022, in Qatar.

The “minuses” of Karim Benzema: an almost zero record this season. No title with Real Madrid, an exit through the Swiss door in the round of 16 at the Euro with the France team. It is not certain that the victory in the League of Nations with the Blues last fall is enough to fill this famous, somewhat empty row of charts. And we can not help but talk about the judicial conviction of Karim Benzema. He was sentenced after the Ballon d’Or votes closed, but the hands of some Western journalists may have shaken when voting for Karim Benzema.

Jorginho: a perfect season

The main asset of the Italo-Brazilian is the track record. Long before the reign Messi-Ronaldo, it was necessary to line up a perfect season to claim the Ballon d’Or. This year, Jorginho ticks all the boxes as he won the Champions League and the European Supercup with Chelsea and was crowned European champion with Italy.

The problem is, that’s not enough now. The only player to have won the Ballon d’Or after having made this double Euro-Champions League is called Cristiano Ronaldo, it was in 2016. What will be missing from Jorginho is that he succeeded in two ultra powerful collectives that have drawn their strength from the addition of talents, without any individuality taking precedence over the collective. This is the case in Chelsea and it is also the case in the Italian selection.

Jorginho may not be unique enough, in incredible collectives, to claim football’s biggest individual award. Winning the Ballon d’Or when you are not world famous is extremely difficult. The Ballon d’Or is also about marketing, it is also about being able to sell a name, a club and jerseys. This is one of Jorginho’s weak points, it is a handicap for him.

Ronaldo: high standards, work and ambition

It is a phenomenon. At 36, he finished top scorer in the Italian league with Juve. And since returning to Manchester United, he has already scored ten goals, including six in the Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo is the “clutch” player par excellence, as NBA specialists say to define a player who, on his own, turns a game upside down and makes his team win. We have the impression that we are repeating ourselves when we have been talking about Cristiano Ronaldo for more than ten years, but he is a monster of requirement, work and ambition. This may be the last opportunity for him to obtain this sixth Ballon d’Or which would therefore place him on a par with his opponent, his lifelong rival, Leo Messi, who has already won six.

There are “minuses” in Cristiano Ronaldo’s season. Even if we can’t stop at one season with him. “CR7” will remain in the history of football as an extraordinary phenomenon. When you have scored nearly 800 goals, won five Champions Leagues, five Ballons d’Or, one Euro, it can be considered that as long as you are on a football field you will be among the finalists for the Ballon d’Or.

The return to Manchester will play in the marketing balance that is the Ballon d’Or. He won his Golden Balls in Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo was Manchester United’s legendary number 7. It is the one that makes Manchester keep their heads above water in a not so easy start to the competition, in the Premier League and the Champions League.

Messi: collective and individual performances

To say “Lionel Messi” is almost to say “Ballon d’Or”. Four or five years ago, voices were raised to say: “As long as Leo Messi plays football, give him the Ballon d’Or”. He will have so marked the history of world football, dazzled the planet by his unique talent, that it is obvious that for voting journalists, Messi will always be among the finalists.

But this season, Messi can claim the Ballon d’Or also for his performances, both collective and individual: he finished top scorer in La Liga, he carried Barça all by himself, especially in the second part of the season. And above all he won his first title with Argentina this summer. Messi and Argentina, it was so far four lost finals. Suffice to say that on Saturday July 10, against Brazil, Leo Messi, captain of the triumphant Albiceleste, experienced one of the greatest emotions of his life and his career. And just for that, he is in the running not to win the Ballon d’Or, but to definitely knock out the winners of this Ballon d’Or! If he wins, it will be his seventh. It is unique.

There is a little less: a sad end to the season with his club, Barça. And a very shy start to say the least with Paris Saint-Germain. But it is not certain that these few months, from August to November, were enough to taint the Messi star at the Ballon d’Or.

Lewandowski: the goal machine

Robert Lewandowski’s strengths are manifold. It is a goal machine, it is a pure number 9. It brought down last spring the mythical record held in the Bundesliga for 49 years by “Der Bomber” Gerd Müller, who had scored 40 goals in 34 games: Robert Lewandowski finished last season with 41 goals in just 29 games. It is monstrous. And if we look at the figures in calendar year, that is to say since last January, he has already scored more than 60 goals, that is to say that he is on the basis of the record held since 2013 by Cristiano Ronaldo, who had scored 69.

Lewandowski deserves this Golden Ball because no one has done better than him this season, and even for two seasons. Robert Lewandowski already deserved the Ballon d’Or last year, where the trophy was not awarded because of the Covid. This missed Ballon d’Or, this meeting of last year, will count in the votes of European and world journalists.

The “minuses” of Robert Lewandowski are that he is Polish. We know how much a brilliant selection helps to build the reputation of a legend. Poland will not be at Lewandowski what Croatia was to Luka Modric in 2018. It is the only small stone in the shoe of Lewandowski. But this shoe is huge and packed with talent.