Ballon D'Or 2015 Winner: Cristiano Ronaldo's Keys to Repeat Performance
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo won his second consecutive Ballon d'Or award on Monday, a landslide victory over Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer.
As shared by SportsCenter, it was the Portugal international's third career Ballon d'Or, leaving him just one short of eternal rival Messi, who took home four straight between 2009 and 2012:
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The 29-year-old will be anxious to tie things up next year, but in order to win his fourth career Ballon d'Or, everything will have to go right for Ronaldo. Here are the keys to a repeat performance in 2015.
Health and Consistency
The first factor is fairly obvious: if you're not playing, you can't win. But 2014 showed the Ballon d'Or award is a little more complicated than simply being on the pitch.
Ronaldo's phenomenal 2014 campaign can be separated into three pieces: a solid start to the year that saw him score at a good rate, a dip in form that resulted in a subpar performance in the Champions League final and the 2014 World Cup and the final part, his red-hot form that led to Real's incredible win streak of 22 matches.
RMadridHome gave us a breakdown of Ronaldo's scoring in 2014, in which you can clearly see the development:
"Cristiano Ronaldo's 61 goals in 2014: pic.twitter.com/koctnMkSzn
— RMadridHome (@RMadridHome) January 13, 2015"
Consistency is the key here. No, Ronaldo will likely not keep up the scoring form he displayed in the early stages of the 2014-15 campaign, but with no major international tournament on the horizon for Portugal in 2015, he may not have to.
Barring a complete meltdown, he'll finish the La Liga campaign as the top scorer, and if he can add one or two pieces of silverware to his resume, he should be in the driver's seat for another win. As long as he can stay healthy and in-form, his current scoring mark should carry him to another Ballon d'Or win.
Beat Barcelona Head-to-Head
Messi and Ronaldo have won every single Ballon d'Or award since 2008, as shared by Football Funnys. That's an incredible statistic, and one that would lead you to believe it's almost a given one of the two top forwards will go home with the award again in 2015:
"Last 7 Ballon d'Or winners: Ronaldo (2014, 2013) Messi (2012, 2011, 2010, 2009) Ronaldo (2008) Dominating football. pic.twitter.com/tQOt1wgX9j
— Football Funnys (@FootballFunnys) January 13, 2015"
There are a handful of young stars who look just about ready to take the leap and join the select group of favourites. Eden Hazard and Paul Pogba come to mind, but the former's numbers still pale in comparison, while the latter likely won't get the recognition if he continues his career in Italy.
Realistically, there's only one player who has a real chance of breaking the streak Messi and Ronaldo are on—Neymar. The Brazil international has developed into one of Barcelona's most vital performers, regularly out-playing teammate Messi.
The fact Neymar and Messi play on the same team works in Ronaldo's favour—the duo is bound to steal votes off each other, as they'll alternate brilliant performances. Judging by his efficiency in front of goal, however, Neymar might emerge as the biggest star in 2015, as shared by this fan:
"Neymar- La liga most effective striker so far. pic.twitter.com/evhea78dg9
— Julian (@FCBJulian) January 13, 2015"
Regardless, Ronaldo's biggest competition will likely come from Los Blancos' biggest rivals. Head-to-head is a bad way to judge individual players, but a large percentage of the voters will use it to determine close decisions. In 2014, Neuer beat Messi in the World Cup final, while Ronaldo dominated the goalkeeper in the Champions League.
Those things shouldn't matter, but they do. Not giving voters a chance to use it against him will be one of the keys for 2015.
Win the Champions League
Ronaldo's biggest weapon in the race for the 2015 Ballon d'Or award will undoubtedly be the Champions League. Since the tournament took on its current format, not a single team has managed to repeat as champions.
As he told Fox Sports in December, the star forward believes Real have what it takes to make history:
"I hope that 2015 will be just as good as 2014 and we can win everything we have won this year. Especially the Champions League. Winning the Club World Cup is an historic moment that will have a special place in my life. It gives me motivation to move forward. Thank you to everyone who has helped me achieve something special.
"
The 2015 Copa America presents Neymar and Messi with the unique opportunity of winning international silverware Ronaldo can't replicate, but given the Champions League's storied history, making history in that tournament would arguably be even more important.
Can Ronaldo win the 2015 Ballon d'Or if Real don't win the Champions League and one of Neymar or Messi wins the 2015 Copa America? It's highly unlikely. Europe's top team competition will be pivotal, and if Ronaldo is a member of the first club to win it in back-to-back years, his fourth Ballon d'Or award should already be in the bag.
