Virgil Van Dijk or Lionel Messi? Who will win the Ballon d'Or 2019?

Virgil Van Dijk or Lionel Messi? Who will win Ballon d'Or 2019? Is Cristiano Ronaldo a Top 3 Contender for Ballon d'Or 2019?

Ballon d'Or 2019 Nominees

Ballon d'Or Winner List (1956 - 2018)

Virgil van Dijk wins UEFA Men's Player of the Year award

Who deserves the Ballon d'Or 2019?  Virgil van Dijk or Lionel Messi

What are Reasons Why Cristiano Ronaldo won't win Ballon d'Or 2019

Following the conclusion of the 2018-19 season, the debate for Ballon d'Or 2019 has escalated in the world football. Several players have been seen as the top contenders for Ballon d'Or award. Many football experts and fans have speculated Argentine and Barcelona star Lionel Messi and Dutch and Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk stay head to head in the top contenders for Ballon d'Or this year. Messi ended the season with La Liga title for Barcelona and European Golden Shoe as European top goalscorer, whereas Van Dijk finished the season as UEFA Champions League Winner and runners-up in Premier League for Liverpool and as UEFA Nations League runners-up with the Netherlands. On the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo finished the season with Serie A title and Supercoppa Italiana title for Juventus, as well as UEFA Nations League Trophy for Portugal. Though Portuguese and Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo is not listed as favorite one to win the award this year, one cannot deny his achievement this year with the club and the country. 

Why Lionel Messi has to win the Ballon d'Or 2019?

Who Will Win Ballon d'Or 2019?

The world has witnessed the 10-years Ballon d'Or dominance by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, both players having won 5 Ballon d'Ors each. Their dominance was broken last year by Croatian and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric. Luka Modric led Real Madrid to club's 13th UEFA Champions League Championship and 2018 FIFA World Cup final as well. He bagged almost all major individual awards last year. Though Lionel Messi is ahead of Ballon d'Or pursuit, football experts have speculated Van Dijk as the top contenders for the award. After winning the Champions League, Van Dijk stated in an interview that Messi is favorite to win the award but he is ready to accept if he gets it. Lionel Messi who led Argentina to 3 Copa America finals and one World Cup final never won an international trophy. Winning Copa America 2019 would make sure Lionel Messi is the only player worth to win the award this year. It is now for us to wait and watch to whom the Ballon d'Or award goes to. 

How was Lionel Messi's 2018-19 Season?

Source: @standard.co.uk

Why Messi has to win the Ballon d'Or 2019?

Who Is Lionel Messi? Bio, Career, Stats, Titles, Awards

The Argentine forward Messi had one of the impressive seasons of his career. Barcelona led the La Liga table with a huge difference from Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid had one of the worst season finishing third on the La Liga table. Messi grabbed the European Golden Shoe for the record 6 times after finished the season with 36 La Liga goals. It was his third consecutive Golden Shoe. Messi finished the 2019-18 season with 51 goals in all competitions.

Barcelona seems very strong and consistent team in Europe when they reached Copa del Rey final and UEFA Champions League semi-final. Barcelona fans were certain that they would once again bring home treble this year. However, their treble dreams got shattered in the 2018-19 UEFA Champions semi-final, when they were eliminated by Liverpool. Barcelona led 3-0 at Camp Nou in the first leg. However, Liverpool dominated on every aspect on the return leg at Anfield and scored required 4 goals to eliminate Barcelona out of the Champions League. The unexpected result thrashed Barcelona dream to win the possible treble. Barcelona suffered another major loss when they were defeated by Valencia in the Copa del Rey final. Messi led the  2018-19 season as La Liga's top goalscorer and top assist provider. He was also the UEFA Champions League top goalscorer for the 2018-19 season although his team did not make it to the finale.

How was Virgil Van Dijk's 2018-19 Season?

Source: @Planetfootball.com

Virgil Van Dijk 2019: Ballon d'Or 2019

Who Is Van Dijk? Bio, Career, Stats, Titles, Awards

On the other side, Van Dijk had one of his best seasons of his football career playing with Liverpool. The Dutch defender who joined the English side during the 2017-18 mid-season impressed the football lovers with his defending skills. No players from Europe could pass through Van Dijk throughout the 2018-19 season. He held that stat from the start until the end of the season. Under his defensive duty, Liverpool finished the 2018-19 Premier League as runners-up with record 97 points. Manchester City defended their Premier League title. Van Dijk was one of the key players in the Liverpool team that reached the UEFA Champions League final for the second consecutive years. Though the English side was defeated by Spanish giant Real Madrid earlier in 2017-18 Champions League finale, Liverpool displayed impressive performance throughout the season and reached the Champions League final for second straight years. Liverpool defeated English club, Tottenham clinching their 6th Champions League title.

Why  Virgil Van Dijk has more chance of winning Ballon d'Or 2019 than Lionel Messi

Van Dijk also led the Dutch side to the inaugural of UEFA Nations League Final. However, the Dutch side was defeated 1-0 by host Portugal in the final. Under the captaincy of Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal lifted the first edition of Nations League Trophy. His performance also earned him several individual awards. He was named Premier League Player of the Season, PFA Players' Player of the Year, Liverpool FC Player of the Season, and Liverpool FC Players' Player of the Season for the 2018-19 season. He was also named to PFA Team of the Year, UEFA Champions League Squad of the season, and UEFA Team of the Year this season. 

How was Cristiano Ronaldo's 2018-19 Season?

Source: @thesun.co.uk

Who Is Cristiano Ronaldo? Bio, Career, Stats, Titles, Awards

Cristiano Ronaldo is certainly not out of the picture. The Portuguese who joined the Italian club Juventus ahead of the 2018-19 season also had an impressive start to his new adventure with Juventus. Cristiano was also the key player in the team that won Supercoppa Italiana and Serie A this year. He was club's top goalscorer this season. Though Juventus were eliminated by Ajax in the quarterfinal of the UEFA Champions League, Ronaldo's hat-trick against Atletico Madrid in Round of 16 will be one of the performance that Ronaldo and Juventus fans will never forget. Juventus suffered 2-0 loss in the Champions League Round of 16 first leg against Atletico Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up for the team and went on to score a hat-trick. With his hat-trick, Juventus witnessed one of the greatest comebacks in Juventus history. Cristiano Ronaldo was named Serie A Most Valuable Player of the season as well.

Cristiano Ronaldo also led Portugal to inaugural UEFA Nations League trophy. He scored an impressive hat-trick against Switzerland in the semi-final to secure a place in the final. The host country welcomed the Netherlands in the final. Portugal then defeated the Dutch side 1-0 in the final. In doing so, Ronaldo won his second international trophy. He previously won Euro Cup 2016 with Portugal.