Cristiano Ronaldo Has a Better Claim to Ballon d'Or Than Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to the be the winner of the 2012 Ballon d'Or. Sure, Lionel Messi broke Gerd Mueller's for goals in a European club season—a record that had stood for 39 years, but the Ballon d'Or is not awarded solely on goal scoring. 

Ronaldo has gotten used to losing out on this award as Lionel Messi has claimed it the last three years, but the two have suddenly switched places. And that all starts off with Ronaldo's Real Madrid finishing ahead of Messi's Barcelona. 

Real Madrid took the top spot this year, largely on the strength of Ronaldo's 46 goals. This also made him the first player in La Liga history to score 40 or more goals in two consecutive seasons. 

He was the clear leader of this squad and came up big in the biggest moments. He was the driving force in Real Madrid's last win over Barcelona. He netted the game winner, and the win for Real essentially handed them the La Liga title. 

Ronaldo certainly didn't limit his dominance to La Liga either. He had 10 goals in 10 Champions League matches. And now Ronaldo is flashing his skills in the European Championship. 

He may have gotten off to a slow start at that tournament, but he has come on like gangbusters, and his goal scoring now has Portugal with a spot in the semifinals. 

Ronaldo took his game to another level this year. His goal-scoring ability has never been in question, but his all-around game and ability to fit into a team structure had. You can throw those criticisms out the window now. 

Cristiano is a complete player. He is the best player in the world, and he deserves the Ballon d'Or to show for it.