A new study has claimed that Lionel Messi is three times more likely than old adversary Cristiano Ronaldo to win the 2019 Ballon d’Or.
The Barcelona striker has netted 31 times in La Liga while Ronaldo single-handedly kept Juventus from elimination in Europe.
But stats specialists Fivethirtyeight have crunched the numbers and ‘place focus on every team’s defensive and offensive capabilities as well as round-by-round probabilities’.
That means, in short, Messi will take the title for the fifth time.
Barcelona are looking more likely as things stand, and have a 1-0 lead over Manchester United to take back to the Nou Camp.
The Argentinian didn’t score but Ronaldo did in the quarter-finals.
But his strike just on half-time wasn’t enough for a first leg victory at Ajax as the Dutch side hit back to go to Turin on level terms.
Ronaldo would love a favour from his former club to up his chances of taking the crown.