For the first time in 10 years, the top 3 nominations of the UEFA Best Player title do not include Messi and Ronaldo. Is the era of this pair of stars over?
It was one of the big shocks to football lovers, when the most important tournament on the planet didn’t have two of the best players on the planet. However, that was just the first step for these two to walk towards the champion.
Real Madrid sold Ronaldo to Juventus for 100 million euros. “El Clasico” from then on is no longer a confrontation of Ronaldo and Messi.
More importantly, since leaving the roof of the Bernabeu, Ronaldo is no longer held in the same awards. At the same time, Juventus received one defeat after another in the European arena.
And Messi? He is just as lonely in Barca. Messi has always played well, but around him there are no Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez to support. Messi also has no rival Ronaldo to encourage. He lives in his own shadow and vaguely sees Barca as a golden prison demanding liberation.
The era of the two top superstars in the world is more evident when the first time since Ricardo Kaka won the Ballon d’Or in 2007. He appeared the second to beat the CR7 and M10 at the highest podium in Zurich. It was Luka Modric, when he won both the Ballon d’Or and FIFA The Best 2018.
More than once, Messi said he missed Ronaldo from the day the Portuguese striker left La Liga. He and Ronaldo both see the other as a motivation to strive. When one person goes away, motivation wears off with the other. The images on the field actually don’t lie.
They care for each other in uncompromising confrontations. We will remember those images, along with the “El Clasico” battles of M10 – CR7.