Seven-time Ballon d Or winner Lionel Messi has not been named on the 30-man shortlist for the 2022 award.
Messi – who won last year s award – endured a frustrating first season at Paris Saint-Germain in 2021-22 after arriving on a free transfer from Barcelona, scoring just 11 goals in 34 games in all competitions.
Three goals in two games at the start of the new season were not enough to see Messi make the cut, but great rival Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United was included.
Six players from Ronaldo s former club Real Madrid have been named among the 30, including heavy favourite for the award Karim Benzema, while there are also six inclusions each from Premier League duo Manchester City and Liverpool.
The nominees for the prestigious award …
Competition: Premier League
Market: Tottenham to beat Everton
Odds:
The Premier League continues this weekend with another round of games that should provide no end to the excitement and intrigue of England s top division. With the competition simmering away nicely, every side will want to pick up all three points for their cause, and with this in mind, Tottenham host Everton on Saturday.
Tottenham have been in fairly good form of late and they are looking to take a Champions League spot for next season. After 22 games they have won 12, drawn five and lost five, while they have scored 42 goals and conceded 21 times. In their last five they have won three, drawn once and lost once, which has helped the London side onto 41 points for the season s…
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his 33rd birthday on Monday with just one significant prize still eluding him the World Cup.
A three-time Premier League and two-time LaLiga winner with Manchester United and Real Madrid respectively, Ronaldo has triumphed in the Champions League on four occasions and been duly rewarded with five Ballons d Or, a joint record alongside great rival Lionel Messi.
At Euro 2016, Ronaldo finally tasted the international success he craved with Portugal, although injury forced him off in the first half of the final against France in Paris.
One last summit remains unconquered and it just happens to be the biggest of them all.
The World Cup final in Moscow on July 15 is surely an occasion Ronaldo has circled on his calendar, but the odd…
Juventus defender Andrea Barzagli is eager to make home advantage count against Bayern Munich on Tuesday stating their Champions League opponents are among the three best teams in the world.
Both sides have a rich European pedigree, with two-time winners Juve making the final last season while Bayern beat the Italian giants en route to their fifth continental success in 2012-13.
Leaders of their respective domestic leagues, both endured struggles at the weekend with an off-the-pace Bayern coming from behind to beat Darmstadt while Juve s 15-match winning run in the league ended with a 0-0 draw at Bologna.
But Bayern are the only foreign team to have beaten Juve on Italian soil in the past decade picking up wins in 2009 and 2013 and Barzagli maintains the Bundesli…