Early this Monday, the French newspaper ‘France Football’ started to announce the 30 final nominated to win the Ballon D’Or trophy next December. Among the finalist, we can find six Real Madrid players: Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe, Ramos, Modric, Kroos and Gareth Bale. This is no big surprise, as Real Madrid won the Champions League.
In order to give some expectation to the trophy, the newspaper was announcing the 30 nominated little by little. The first three players to be nominated were Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Sergio Agüero. We can also find in the list two Atlético de Madrid players, Antoine Griezmann and Diego Godín. Actually, Griezmann, Cristiano Ronaldo and Bale are the three favourites to the trophy after being the finalist in the UEFA Best player trophy back in summer.
Real Madrid won the Champions League, so their stars are the main favourites to raise the title. Especially Cristiano Ronaldo, who was the top scorer in the Champions League, kicked the final penalty in the clash in San Siro against Atlético de Madrid and even won the Euro with Portugal in France. Despite his poor end of the season, the Portuguese is the big favourite to win his fourth Ballon D’Or trophy.
Gareth Bale has also been shortlisted for the award. The Welshman was very important for Real Madrid to win the Champions League despite not scoring any goal. On top of that, he was the most important man for Wales in their first appearance in an Euro, arriving to the semifinals. Bale is expected to be in the top-three list this year in the trophy.
Toni Kroos was announced later than his colleagues. The German midfielder was key for Zinedine Zidane and played all the important games. The German midfielder also helped his national team to reach the Euro semifinals, when Germany faced France and Griezmann finished with the World Cup champions options. Also, another Real Madrid midfielder, Luka Modric, is among the nominated after his role this year at Real Madrid.
Finally, the French newspaper also announced that the two Los Blancos defenders Pepe and Sergio Ramos are among the nominated. The Portuguese won both Champions League and Euro playing a key role in the finals, whereas the Spaniard scored another crucial goal in Milan.
The other footballers shortlisted to win the Ballon D’Or are: Iniesta, Koke, Ibrahimovic, Lewandowski, Aubameyang, Buffon, Higuaín, Dybala, De Bruyne, Agüero, Godín, Griezmann, Muller, Messi, Mahrez,Payet, Rui PAtricio, Neymar, Luis Suárez, Neuer, Vidal, Lloris, Modric, Kroos, Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe, Sergio Ramos and Gareth Bale.
