Ooh, it’s Bellingham versus Harry Kane versus Kylian Mbappe, I foolishly wrote before the Champions League semi-finals, fully anticipating a Euro 2024 showdown between the two favourites.
And that went down well.
Rodri won the 2024 Ballon d’Or ahead of Vinicius Jr (Photo: Getty)
But that is exactly the hook. Put Ballon d’Or in your tweet or headline or video or podcast title and it makes for easy bait. Who cares if you are predominantly catching the attention of the blue-tick army? It engages.
Now, though, with Messi and Ronaldo past their peak powers, this vacated throne at the top of men’s football has only amplified the debate. Now that there are more contenders, the conversation has become more nauseating.
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This is especially the case in the latter stages of the Champions League, when every action from a handful of players is put under the microscope, and where conversely Vinny, Mbappe, Bellingham and Mohamed Salah and have all been dismissed as second-rate for having the temerity to lose in this competition earlier than expected.
The moment that changed my outlook on the Ballon d’Or conversation was after last year’s Champions League final. Perhaps it’s the cynicism that comes with age, and I certainly am not the target audience for the shouty gantry footage of co-commentators that is put out onto social media, but with each repetition of “Ballon d’Or!” from Rio Ferdinand I wanted to scream.
Honestly. Here’s a transcript:
“Has he gone ahead now for the Ballon d’Or? Wow! He’s looked dangerous in this second half, he’s looked dangerous. Then he’s scored and backs it up. The biggest moments in the Champions League this season, Vinicius Junior stand up.”
Rio’s reaction to Vinicius Jr’s UCL Final goal #UCLfinal | @rioferdy5 pic.twitter.com/v70i9zuYYk
He knows the audience will lap this up, and he has cleverly played up to this viral video – which has clocked more than 10m views across Ferdinand’s and TNT Sports’ football accounts on X, as well as 218.4k likes on TikTok – in recent weeks, when pondering Yamal’s prospects.
The desperately sad aspect of that initial video though was that the Ballon d’Or ever came into Ferdinand’s mind in the first place. There he is, inside Wembley, watching Real Madrid counter in the 83rd minute of the Champions League, with Vinicius Jr about to seal the victory at Borussia Dortmund’s expense.
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Ferdinand is far from alone in this (I’m guilty, too, remember), but while it is possible to mute the words Ballon d’Or on X, it isn’t possible to mute the words on television without listening to no commentary whatsoever. For some, that is the only way, but when it comes to analysis during and around a match, when admittedly there is plenty of time to fill, the Ballon d’Or has become a lazy go-to.
It is the nature of an ever-moving landscape, but in this case, it would help to press pause. Instead on fast-forwarding to December, let’s just try and enjoy the latter stages play out, and ask what not Barcelona’s defeat to Inter means for Raphinha’s and Yamal’s chances, nor whether Dembele is the frontrunner if Paris Saint-Germain make the final, and instead focus on the team aspect of a competition that has just delivered a tie for the ages.
Inter-Barcelona, after all, was a gift, and the real prize is the Champions League, a team trophy that should mean far more than the individual one handed out by a French football magazine.
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