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The age of struggle is over Messi and Ronaldo for the Golden Ball. The Argentine was not included in France Football’s list of contenders for the prize. Cristiano is present in it, but the chances of winning the nomination are minimal. There are more deserving candidates: we choose the ten best from the list presented by the French edition.

Erling Haaland, forward (Manchester City / Borussia Dortmund, Norway)

The Norwegian immediately assumed the role of City’s main center forward (last year there were problems with this position). However, according to the new candidate evaluation criteria ZM the first half of the season started will not be taken into consideration. The team’s results are also not an advantage for Erling: Dortmund flew to the Europa League, where they lost immediately to Rangers and again finished second in the German league. It was rather his influence on the team’s play that helped the Netherlands to be on this list.

Thibault Courtois, goalkeeper (Real Madrid, Belgium)

The Belgian felt a lot of hatred: he could not find himself after moving to Real Madrid from Chelsea. The adaptation period has passed, the last 3 seasons have been creamy with Thibault at the gates, conceding less than one goal per game in the Spanish La Liga. Teammate Karim Benzema considers Courtois the best goalkeeper in the world. The statistics of the goalkeeper in the final confirm this title: he has never conceded a goal in the decisive matches of two Spanish Super Cups, scored a “cracker” in the Champions League final and consolidated his success in the recent Super Cup. Uefa.

Kylian Mbappé (PSGFrance)

The main talent of his generation again did not go far with the team in European competitions, even though he scored twice against Real Madrid. In Ligue 1, last season was Kylian’s best season (28 goals and 17 assists), but this will remain a local success until the Parisians manage to get through the money-bag complex. Or until the striker leaves for Real Madrid. A final Champions League for all the time elapsed PSGit’s a terrible result.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, right-back (Liverpool, England)

Best full back Premier League thanks to the Klopp system, which emphasizes the strengths of the full backs. The Englishman contributed significantly to the Merseysiders game and has maintained a decent scoring record over the past four seasons. In the last English championship on behalf of the defender he 23 years old 2 goals and 12 assists. The team’s results overlap with this: Liverpool fought to the last with the strongest City for the league and reached the final Champions League.

Bernardo Silva, right fielder (Manchester City, Portugal)

The midfielder is the second player on the team with the most appearances in all competitions last season, despite the strong intensity of the Premier League, which often sees Guardiola rotate his squad. The Citizens have won the Scudetto, but once again have failed in European competitions. Portuguese in games Champions League helped destroy Sporting (brace), scored the winning goal against Real Madrid in the first leg of the semi-finals and assisted at the moment with the only goal in the return.

Kevin de Bruyne, midfielder (Manchester City, Belgium)

Without a main striker at City, the Belgian started assisting less and started scoring on his own. Midfielder – City top scorer in the previous Premier League season. De Bruyne’s ability to open the opponent’s defense with a pass is known to all, it has a major impact on the team’s results. In addition, the City championship allows him to rise to the top of the ranking of contenders for the Golden Ball.

Mohamed Salah, right winger (Liverpool, Egypt)

A backbone winger in Liverpool’s game who has been helping Liverpool make life difficult at Manchester City for years. If the English giant also beat Real Madrid in the final Champions League, it would be a hefty bid for victory. In the Africa Cup of Nations Salah reached the final with the Egyptian team, but also lost here against the Senegalese team. Winless in these tournaments, Mohamed is just one of the candidates ZM.

Robert Lewandowski, forward (Barcelona / Bayern, Poland)

Last year’s prize remains in my memory, then Robert lost in the vote against Messi. Many disagreed with such a distribution of seats, but it is too late to argue. More importantly, the Pole continues to maintain a phenomenal performance at the age of 33. The average number of goals per game remains above one (35 goals in 34 games last season, 41 goals in 29 games in 2020/21, 34 goals in 31 games in 2019/20). Although the impression of Lewandowski’s results spoils the departure from Champions League from “Villarreal”, which was supposed to be past Monaco.

Sadio Mane (Bayern / Liverpool, Senegal)

The hardworking Senegalese is loved by many for his honesty and loyalty to the team, including actions on the field. Since 2015 he has held the bar in at least 18 goals per season. Premier League. At Liverpool, Mane averaged more than one key pass per game, dribbled, wasn’t afraid to shoot. This is how Sadio lifted success with Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations, where his team beat the Egyptians in the final with Salah.

Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France)

It is unclear what else Karim has to do to win the Ballon d’Or. After Ronaldo’s departure from Real Madrid, the Frenchman became the main scorer of the cream. The season ended is the best for the 34-year-old striker in terms of the number of goals in La Liga. He was top scorer in the national championship (27 goals), won the championship with Real Madrid, became top scorer in the Champions League 2021/22 (15 goals), participated in the victory over City (goals and assists, brace in the first match ), thanks to his two hat-tricks, Real Madrid passed PSG and Chelsea. As a result, Benzema became the winner of the main European Cup tournament. Now there is no player who would make such a great contribution to the team’s results.