Official: The Ronaldo-Ballon d'Or love affair is over
Suraj Radia
- 17 Oct 2022 20:06 BST
- 3 min read
Cristiano Ronaldo finished 20th in the voting for the Ballon d’Or – his worst position since 2005 – summing up, by his standards, a disastrous year that may signify the beginning of the end of one of football’s greatest legends.
The Portuguese star is a five-time Ballon d’Or winner but it appears Ronaldo may never overtake Lionel Messi on seven, with the Argentine himself failing to make the shortlist for the first time since 2006.
Ronaldo may not have many arguments over the voting, with his 24 goals in all competitions last season being his worst goal output since 2009 – both campaigns coming for Manchester United.
The 37-year-old may hold some regrets over returning to Old Trafford last summer with United failing to qualify for Champions League football and Ronaldo finding himself on the bench under Erik ten Hag.
Despite pushing for an exit during the summer, Ronaldo struggled to generate any interest from Europe’s major clubs and it seems the ex-Real Madrid man may now be fading out of greatness.
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End of an era for Ronaldo…but maybe not for Messi
Ronaldo finished third in the voting for the Ballon d’Or during his last full year at Juventus and was fifth in the rankings last year but his rapid decline coincides with United’s worst ever Premier League points haul.
Despite being the club’s top scorer, Ronaldo’s presence in the team didn’t lead to success and clubs such as Bayern Munich didn’t believe signing him would be beneficial to their sides.
Ronaldo may have missed his chance to catch up to Messi, with the Paris Saint-Germain forward potentially a contender for next year’s award depending on how he fares in the upcoming World Cup.
Ranked at the 20th place for the 2022 Ballon d’Or! @Cristiano@ManUtd#ballondor pic.twitter.com/omidUm8DQO
— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@francefootball) October 17, 2022
Messi has recaptured some of his best form for PSG in a deeper role, orchestrating the team with seven assists in ten league games this season, while Ronaldo has netted just once from open play so far.
A decline was always expected given Ronaldo’s age and the sheer quality of his output over more than a decade and his drop in performances as well as votes may mark the end of his incredible spell at the top.
