Top 5 favourites to win Ballon d’Or 2021

Ballon d’Or
The duo of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has dominated the award over the years. With 6 trophies, Messi leads the race, one more than Ronaldo.
2021
Ballon d’Or was cancelled in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. After a gap of a year, the prestigious award returns to determine the best player from the previous year.
Euros and Copa America
Apart from the annual tournaments, the upcoming Copa America and European Championships are expected to have a say in who wins the award.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Juventus had a forgettable season in 2020-21 as they failed to retain the Serie A title after winning it for nine consecutive seasons. In fact, the Turin club finished 4th. But Ronaldo was their stand out performer with 36 goals and 4 assists, across all competitions. With 29 goals, he also finished as Serie A’s top scorer.
Robert Lewandowski
Lewandowski set a new record for goals scored in a season with 41 for Bayern Munich, surpassing the previous record of 40 set by Gerd Müller in 1971–72. The Polish was instrumental in Bayern winning their 9th straight Bundesliga title. Overall, he finished with 48 goals and 9 assists in 40 competitive matches.
Lionel Messi
Even though Barcelona missed the La Liga title, Messi was on fire in the second half of the season. After starting the 2020-21 term on a slower note, Messi switched gears as soon as 2021 struck. He finished as the top scorer in La Liga with 30 goals, 7 more than second-placed Benzema. Overall, he netted 38 goals and 14 assists.
Kevin de Bruyne
Despite missing a chunk of the 2020-21 season, de Bruyne returned and delivered for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and played a crucial part in winning the Premier League and League Cup. City have also qualified for UCL’s final and a win could strengthen his case. He has scored 10 goals and 18 assists for City. He has scored 2 goals and assisted 4 in 6 games across all competitions for Belgium as well.
Kylian Mbappe
With 42 goals and 11 assists in as many as 47 competitive matches for PSG, Mbappe was once again on fire. Moreover, World Champions France are also favourites to win the Euros and if he can inspire them to the title, it will be difficult to deny him the Ballon d’Or.