Ballon d’Or is the most prestigious award for any football player. In recent years this award was given to players with less competition in between and the winners being ones predicted by many. This year the race has taken a step and two main candidates are giving tough push to each other.
Raphinha and Mohammed Salah
Raphinha has been one of the best players this season and is having the best season for his stance. He has been the main key for Barcelona this season and his consistent performances speak for themselves. On the other hand, Liverpool’s starlet who has been doing this for years is second to none. He is in exceptional form taking the whole Premier League by surprise.
This season Raphinha has already contributed with 24 goals and 15 assists in 35 games with the majority of the season yet to play. Mo Salah has contributed with 27 goals and 19 assists in 35 games. These goals are usually the numbers a striker should have and for the assist tally usually a midfielder has these numbers, but both these wingers have proved why they are best at their role. Last year everyone shouted Vini Jr. as the Ballon d’Or winner, his stats were 25 goals and 12 assists. This shows how the level of this award has stepped up this season.
Another interesting thing about these two is, that both finished as the top teams of the Champions League. Salah played his part with important wins and Raphinha was crucial for Barcelona as well. An example of Raphina’s role was his 2 goals away from home against Benfica.
This year’s race looks fire and no one is near these two players. From my perspective, I see both players sitting in the Top 3 finalist panel for this year. In my opinion, with the individual stats the team trophies also play a huge role both teams are doing well domestically and Barcelona looks to have an upper hand as they have already won the Spanish Super Cup. Let’s see what this race brings for us in the remaining season.