He's been just amazing to watch recently. I mean, people will always make excuses for his performances (e.g. Messi still better, "If Messi wasn't injured, he would outscore Ronaldo", Ronaldo still only has 3 trophies with Madrid, still stuck on one Ballon d'Or, etc.). But since the start of this season, he's been on fire. 24 goals and 4 assists in 17 appearances show how good he is. He's scored as many league goals as Ibrahimovic and Messi combined. He's scored only one less goal than Edinson Cavani and Zlatan Ibrahimovic COMBINED.

Personally, I am pretty damn sure that Ribery is going to win the Ballon d'Or. But with Ronaldo's performances, he should surely beat Messi to 2nd place. In fact, I think that Ibrahimovic should be 3rd, and Messi 4th (Ballon d'Or will now have 5 finalists instead of 3, with 3 winning the Golden, Silver, and Bronze balls, and 2 of them not winning anything). But in terms of individual performances, Ronaldo surely tops this entire calendar year ahead of everyone.

Ronaldo has also scored 62 goals for club and country this calendar year, 17 more than Messi (who was injured for a bit of the season). But even without Messi's injury, it's hard to see Ronaldo NOT be ahead of him since 2013. His goal+assist per game record (1.57) is better than Messi's in 2013 (1.55). And what's more, he's never lost a game with Real Madrid in which he has found the back of the net (excluding that own goal against Granada, lol). With 225 goals, he is only behind Ferenc Puskas (242), Carlos Santillana (289), Alfredo Di Stefano (305), and Raul (323) in Madrid's scoring charts. He's scored more goals in 5 seasons than most Madrid players have in 10 years.

Carlo Ancelotti - "For me, the best player right now is Cristiano Ronaldo"

Arsene Wenger - "Messi was on top until now. But since last year, maybe Ronaldo is in front. He very athletic"

Luis Figo - "With his quality, what he stands for, and his performance in every game, he can always win the Ballon d'Or"

If the Ballon d'Or is going to be based on individual performances like it has been for the last couple years, then Ronaldo ought to win it. But if it will be based on team accomplishments as well as individual performances, then Ribery must surely be the winner.

Heck, if I knew Ronaldo would get so motivated by being criticized, I would pay Blatter money to publicly mock Ronaldo, so that the man can go on and score goal after goal.

I think Ronaldo s actual form is his best ever, his end of the season is amazing, but i dont think he can catch up Riberys year.

my predictions would be : ( If everybody keep his actual form)

1) Ribery
2) Ronaldo
3) Messi
4) Ibra
5) Iniesta

I haven't watched many of Real Madrid's games this season but I think he's topping Messi this time too. If he does win, it won't just be public apology hehe. I'd even put Ibra above Messi in tiki_taka's list.

@tiki taka Ribery is amazing and I love him. But there is no way he is better than Ronaldo or Messi.

^ This year he has been. Like in 2010, Sneijder deserved the Ballon D'or but Messi got it instead. But Messi is still better than him anyway.

for me

1. Ronaldo
2. Ribery

mmmh guys ballon d'or is for the best player in the world. There is no question that in terms of skill/athleticism/influence on their team, Ronaldo and Messi are the two best players in the world.

Just look at the numbers ffs, Ribery is an amazing player, but Ronaldo has 225 goals in 216 games for RM. That's crazy, even in my carreer mode on fifa my strikers don't score that many goals.

I understand that people grow tired that it's always about ronaldo and messi. But if the award is really about individual performance, it should go to ronaldo or messi. Not ribery.

I would be curious to know how much penalties are counted in those 225 goals.
Not to denied that Ronaldo is a fantastic player, he is.
But just to know...

@netsten

30 penalties. He's scored 30 penalties in regular time with Real Madrid, and 21 free-kicks. So in total, 51 goals have come from direct dead ball situations. If you're wondering about Messi's statistics over the same period of time, he's scored 28 penalties and 11 free-kicks. So when people call Ronaldo "Penaldo", it's quite ridiculous because both him and Messi just about score from the same amount of penalty kicks.

Is Ribery really that good? I never knew he was. I mean, I knew that he is definitely a quality player but I never knew he was THAT good. This started coming up last season.

@kinghenry
Im sorry, you are probably talking about potential, in term of best potential my list will be like this :
( im just switching positions, their are other players that have world class potential, only the top 2 is objective)

1) Messi
2) Ronaldo
3) Ibra
4) Ribery
5) Iniesta

Potential is what a player is capable of, but the best player of the year have nothing to do with potential so i keep my first predictions.

as good a year ribery had ronaldo is better overall and deserves it soooo muuchhhh

@Man_utd

Well, considering the Ballon d'Or is only for individual performances (as FIFA had proved in 2010 by giving it to Messi, even though Sneijder had accomplished much more than anyone else that season), Ronaldo should be the shoe-in for this year's Ballon d'Or. BUT, since Ronaldo and Messi always end up battling it out every year, some people are quite sick and tired of seeing this. It's almost as if there are no other players in this world. That's why Ribery is being hyped up quite a bit. Yes, he is indeed extremely talented. He has a fantastic effect on the Bayern team, and is involved in EVERY SINGLE one of their plays. BUT, in terms of individual talent, he is not as talented as Messi or Ronaldo.

In terms of individual performances this season, I'd put

1. Ronaldo
2. Ribery
3. Ibrahimovic
4. Messi

In terms of accomplishments with team

1. Ribery
2. Messi
3. Iniesta
4. Ibrahimovic
5. Ronaldo (lol)

@Dynast Messi should be ranked higher than Ibra in your list, he won the duel between them in CL while playing only 60 minutes in the 2 confrontations, and his stats even injured are better than Zlatan one, i found this analyse tell me what do you think about it ?

Season 2013/2014
Number of games played : 1. Franck Ribery (22 ) 2. Cristiano Ronaldo (20 ) 3. Lionel Messi ( 17)

Goals: 1. Cristiano Ronaldo (28 ) 2. Lionel Messi ( 16) 3. Franck Ribery (13)

Number of goals in the club: 1. Cristiano Ronaldo (24 ) 2. Lionel Messi ( 14 ) 3. Franck Ribery (9)

Number of matches / goals for the national team : 1. Cristiano Ronaldo (3 matches , 4 goals ) 2. Franck Ribery ( 5 games , 4 goals ) 3. Lionel Messi ( 1 game , 2 goals)

Number of assists in the club: 1. Franck Ribery (6 ) 2. Cristiano Ronaldo ( 5 ) 3. Lionel Messi ( 4)

Ratio shots / goals per game in the club: 1. Lionel Messi ( 69 shots, 14 goals , 1 goal every 4.9 shots ) 2. Franck Ribery ( 48 shots , 9 goals , 1 goal every 5.3 shots ) 3.Cristiano Ronaldo (130 shots, 24 goals , 1 goal every 54 shots )

Average successful club passes: 1. Franck Ribery (84.9 pr cent) 2. Lionel Messi ( 83.9 pr cent) 3. Cristiano Ronaldo ( 80.6 )

Dribbling per game : 1. Cristiano Ronaldo (7.6 ) 2. Franck Ribery (5.5 ) 3. Lionel Messi (4.9)

Participation numbers league goals : 1. Cristiano Ronaldo ( Involved in 19 of the 35 goals of Real Madrid ) 2. Franck Ribery ( Involved in 10 of 27 goals for Bayern Munich ) 3. Lionel Messi ( Involved in 12 of the 38 goals of FC Barcelona )

Individual trophies won in 2013 ( total points multiplied by 2) : 1. Franck Ribery ( Best player Bundesliga Bundesliga best passer , best footballer of the year UEFA ) 2. Lionel Messi ( Best player in La Liga \\\'s top scorer in La Liga ) 3. Cristiano Ronaldo (none)

Collective trophies won in 2013 ( total points multiplied by 2) : 1. Franck Ribery (Champions League , European Super Cup , Bundesliga and German Cup ) 2. Lionel Messi ( Liga , Spanish Super Cup ) 3. Cristiano Ronaldo (none)

Total season 2012-2013 + 2013-2014
1 . Lionel Messi ( 79 games , 85 goals in all competitions ) 2. Cristiano Ronaldo (84 games , 87 goals) 3 . Franck Ribery ( 74 games , 26 goals )

Number of league goals in 2012-2013 : 1. Lionel Messi ( 46 goals ) 2. Cristiano Ronaldo ( 34 goals ) 3. Franck Ribery (10 goals)

Number of assists in the league in 2012-2013 : 1. Franck Ribery ( 14 assists ) 2. Lionel Messi ( 12 assists ) 3. Cristiano Ronaldo ( 10 assists )

Number of goals in the Champions League : 1. Cristiano Ronaldo ( 12 goals ) 2. Lionel Messi ( 8 goals ) 3. Franck Ribéry ( 1 goal )

Conclusion

In the 2013-2014 season , Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the most decisive player for Real Madrid and has a decisive advantage over Franck Ribery and Lionel Messi who knows more complicated than the previous season 2013-2014 season despite statistics breathtaking . If Cristiano Ronaldo is the top scorer this season , Franck Ribery is itself the best passer , Lionel Messi is clearly not playing a leading role in occupying the second place scorer and the third ranking of smugglers. But the most crucial aspect of the Ballon d\'Or, the trophies won , Franck Ribery dominates his opponents with a Champions League , a European Supercup and two Bundesliga titles , Lionel Messi has reign over the Spain in winning two major trophies to the dismay of Cristiano Ronaldo who is the loser with no collective and individual trophy. Until then, Franck Ribery has the most advantages to win the Ballon d\'Or but the Argentine has realized a season 2012/ 2013 including exceptional January-June 2013 or it has statistically outperformed the French and Portuguese. In order to have a definitive and objective opinion , we calculated the total number of points in each field, winning the first three points, the second two points and the first point . Small exception for individual trophies as having obtained no trophy, Cristiano Ronaldo logically 0 point on the field.

final ranking
1.Franck Ribery (35 points) 2.Lionel Messi ( 32 points) 3.Cristiano Ronaldo ( 28)
By adding the total points of the areas listed above , Franck Ribery should be statistically and through his club performances throughout the year 2013 to win the Ballon d\'Or.

probably on the 07-08 season...

Giving points by "Ratio shots / goals per game in the club" the biggest bullshit.
So Ribery and Messi are ahead of Ronaldo just because their team won trophies instead of Real Madrid.

I think Ribery deserves it for being the outstanding player in a team which won the treble and also got his team to a second CL final in two years (and won it).

No-one can compete with Messi in terms of talent. But sheer talent is not the only criteria for Player of the Year, in my opinion.

(I also think that Sneijder should NOT have won it in 2010. The only player who deserved to dislodge Messi that year was Iniesta, I think, but Messi still edged it, for me)

Agree Lodatz +1.
@quickzy The year started in january, not in september... You seem to have very short memory....
I dont mind if Ronaldo wins it, he was neer to have it all this years, it would be a great award for his incredible hardworking and proffessionalism, but i only see him wining it if he destroys Muller record or be near this amount of goals, that will make his year more significant for having no individual and collective trophy, the second condition is beating Sweden and qualify to world cup.
Please give more arguments instead of your usual bullshit word.

Like we said many times before.... The Ballon d'or is an INDIVIDUAL award. So it goes to the best player. If you could pick any of the three for your team while ignoring their age, just what they achieved this year, you wouldn't pick Ribery. While he is an amazing player, Ronaldo and Messi are monsters. Individually.

KingHenry summed it up perfectly. It's an award based on individual performance, so I don't see how this should go to anyone other than Ronaldo or Zlatan.

Sorry mate, i may seem biased as im French, but watching the best players my team faced in 2013, Ribery was the most dangerous, Ribery was not at this level past year, but he is not the same, i dont know where his confidence came from....

And he is not a forward, his influence on games are from another world this year. The player with the less visibility of the 3 as Bundesliga are not watched by people.

Anyway one of the 3 needs to win it, i wont be disapointed with any result, they are my top 3.