Cristiano Ronaldo is widely seen as the favourite to win the Ballon d'Or, but new surprise reports suggest Lionel Messi has beaten his long-standing rival to the award.
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The Portuguese had a brilliant first half of the calendar year, scoring Real Madrid to the UEFA Champions League title and captaining Portugal to their first ever UEFA European Championship title.
However, the 31-year-old had a tough start to the 2016/17 season after suffering an injury in the Euro final, scoring just seven goals in 11 games.
Messi, meanwhile, who helped FC Barcelona win La Liga and the Copa Del Rey, started the new campaign with 15 goals in 13 games, despite missing three weeks through injury.
He also helped Argentina to reach the Copa America final and reports by Diario Gol in Spain suggest he will upset Ronaldo and beat him to France Football's Ballon d'Or title.
The award will be handed out on 13 December, after the French publication split from FIFA – where the award was previously known as the FIFA Ballon d'Or between 2010 and 2015.
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Overall, Messi has scored 50 goals and assisted another 29 in 53 appearances for club and country since the turn of the year, while Ronaldo netted 44 times and set up another 16 in 48 games.
This means the Argentine was involved in 79 goals, 19 more in comparison to Ronaldo's 60.
Do you think Messi can upset Ronaldo and win the 2016 Ballon d'Or? Have your say in the comments section below.
