Paris Saint-Germain’s defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League opens the door for Erling Haaland in this year’s most prestigious individual prize race.
With both Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi no longer having a chance to win the Champions League this season, the remaining individuals who explode in the European playground will have a chance in the Ballon d’Or race due to the magazine. Organized by France Football .
Will the 2022 World Cup be enough for Messi?
Messi did not have many difficulties to win FIFA The Best 2022 because the aura was too great from the success at the tournament in Qatar late last year. The 2023 Ballon d’Or race is also witnessing the dominance of Leo when the organizer of this award calculates the achievement of the whole 2022/23 season.
Thus, two important playgrounds to calculate the achievements of the players will be the 2022 World Cup and the 2022/23 Champions League. Mbappe or Neymar will have a very difficult chance to overthrow Messi in the 2023 Golden Ball race because they have the same chance of winning the Champions League this season in the PSG shirt.
Therefore, Messi can only be competitive when candidates from other clubs shine brightly and win the Champions League, just like how Karim Benzema did last season. Benzema, Mohamed Salah, Vinicius Junior and especially Erling Haaland become heavyweights with Messi in the 2023 Golden Ball race.
Of course, to compete with the Argentine superstar, the above strikers must explode in the Champions League and win this tournament. Both Benzema, Salah and Vinicius have played well this season but have not left a strong enough impression on the statistics (goals, assists) or shined in big matches to race fairly with Messi.
Even if Real Madrid or Liverpool win the Champions League this season, the three names mentioned above will not be able to compete with Messi in the Ballon d’Or race if they do not leave a big mark on the European championship journey. Haaland is different. The Norwegian striker emerged as the most potential candidate to make Messi difficult in the above individual title race.
The Norwegian striker’s 33 goals and 5 assists after 34 games for Man City this season are enough to impress the experts. If the striker born in 2000 continues to score and break records, he can become a strong candidate.
In the Golden Ball races, the number of goals each player scores always has a great influence. It should be remembered that in the Ballon d’Or 2021, Messi almost won because of his impressive personal statistics, not because of the club title.
Messi scored 41 goals and 17 assists after 56 appearances for Barca in 2021 but could not help the Catalan club win La Liga or the Champions League. The highest honor Leo won that year was the Copa America championship with Argentina.
The expertise of the Ballon d’Or
Of course, the race in 2023 will be very different. Since Messi won the 2022 World Cup with an explosive performance, the other candidates need to show the same in both the season and the Champions League. If Haaland helps Man City quench their thirst for the Champions League, he can completely compete with Messi.
Another fulcrum for Haaland in the 2023 Golden Ball race lies in the award selection method. The fact that France Football magazine limits the number of judges to vote in the final round helps to ensure the professionalism and fairness of the awards.
Only journalists from football backgrounds in the top 100 FIFA men’s national team rankings can vote. In the past, there have been many cases of journalists voting by feeling. In many cases the judges do not follow European football and only vote for names they find familiar.
With the above change, Messi will no longer hold a big advantage just because of fame and glory from winning the 2022 World Cup. A Leo who exploded only in two months in Qatar can be compared to Haaland scoring continuously. for the whole season?
For Haaland personally, the Norwegian striker helping Pep Guardiola and Man City to solve the Champions League curse will be an achievement as weighty as the World Cup championship. At that time, the 2023 Golden Ball race will be extremely unpredictable.
