Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar will contest the 2015 Ballon d’Or after they were named as final nominees.
Barcelona duo Lionel Messi and Neymar will compete with current holder Cristiano Ronaldo for this year’s FIFA Ballon d’Or.
The only other player to make the top two of the final vote over that seven-year period was Andres Iniesta in 2010, when Messi headed an all-Barca shortlist that also included Xavi Hernandez.
Despite overtaking Raul to become Madrid’s all-time top goal scorer, Ronaldo is seen as second favourite to make it three victories in a row with the club winning no silverware in 2015, other than the Spanish Super Cup.
Neymar, who is the top scorer in La Liga this season with 14 goals, is considered the outsider of the three to win the Ballon d’Or in the first year he has made the shortlist.
Ronaldo (45), Lionel Messi (44) and Neymar (41) have scored more goals all competitions in 2015 than any other player in Europe’s top 5 leagues.
Luis Suarez, the other member of Barca’s “MSN” attack, was also a strong contender to make the final three, as was Bayern Munich’s Polish striker Robert Lewandowski.
The final three has been reduced from an initial list of 23, with Barcelona and Real Madrid providing almost half of those players.
Source : skysports,espnfc.
