Ballon d'Or Winner 2014: Cristiano Ronaldo Stakes Claim as World's Top Player

The debate is over.

Well, for some people the debate will never be over. For some people, Lionel Messi will remain the best player in the world no matter what the stats or trophy cases suggest.

But for my money, Cristiano Ronaldo's 2014 Ballon d'Or award—the second in a row he's won and his third overall—is just another strong indication that he is the best player in the world at the moment.

Which isn't to say that Messi isn't great. Far from it. Amidst turmoil at Barcelona, Messi has been as bright as ever, scoring 16 goals and adding eight assists in La Liga play this year as he continues to thrive as both a facilitator and goalscorer.

Messi helped lead Argentina to the World Cup final too. So to call Ronaldo the best player in the world at the moment isn't an indictment of Messi, but rather an indication of just how amazing CR7 has been in the past year.

He had 52 goals in 43 games during 2014, per BBC Sport. He had 31 goals in 30 league games during the 2013-14 season for Real Madrid and has an astonishing 26 goals and nine assists through 16 La Liga games thus far this season.

His 8.91 average match rating in La Liga play this season from WhoScored.com is vastly superior to that of any other player in the league.

I could go on. I could talk about Real Madrid's triumphs in the Copa Del Rey and Champions League last season, or how no other player in world football offers the same sort of physical prowess and domination that he features—a perfect blend of natural ability and work ethic, speed and power, agility and strength, creativity and precision.

Of cocky assurance and humility. OK, maybe not that last part.

That, ultimately, may be why the Messi camp never gives Ronaldo the credit he deserves. Messi is quiet and reserved. Ronaldo is brash and, at times, downright selfish.

They play quite differently as well, as Barney Ronay of The Guardian eloquently noted:

"

There are those who will say Messi is a more subtle creative player. Where Ronaldo is explosively linear, Messi weaves more aesthetically beautiful patterns, relies less on speed and power and more on his undiminished ability to pick a wonderful pass, to beat a man with a shuffle, to make the team around him play like angels. This may be true. But it overlooks the fact Ronaldo has also adapted in the past year, that he has distilled his game to a point where he now moves less, touches the ball less, and has refined his attacking presence into a wicked razor edge.

"

But right now, Ronaldo's best is better than Messi's best. Ronaldo's evolution is perhaps his last as a player, as he's 29 years old and at some point soon his body simply isn't going to respond in the same way as it did during his peak years.

That might be a few years off, of course, but that day is coming. Still, until it does, Ronaldo will continue to dominate for Real Madrid as the brightest star in the Los Blancos constellation.

At the moment, there is nothing more frightening in football than the moment Ronaldo gets the ball at his feet and starts driving forward.

Those who love Messi will debate the point until the end of time. For the second year in a row, however, the Ballon d'Or voters agree: Ronaldo is the best player in the world today.