In The Absence Of The Three Juggernauts

By Azeez Said

It is no news that this year's Ballon d'Or award has got 3 major contenders in Franck Ribery (France & Bayern Munich), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal & Real Madrid) and Lionel Messi (Argentina & Barcelona).

This year has been one of the best in German football with the UCL final being an all German final serving as the highlight of their year. It was down to the brilliance of players like Robert Lewandowski, Robben, Marco Reus, Ribery to mention but 4 that brought about this accolade.

One player that stood out of the rest was Franck Ribery. With his blistering pace, excellent dribbling skill and trickery, he led Bayern Munich to an unprecedented treble, winning the league, Pokal and UCL title.  With 18 assists and 11 goals, his contribution to the team can not be overemphasized. If the award were given in May, there would have been no need for the nomination process because he was miles ahead of others.

Ribery got injured while on international break after helping France qualify to the World cup through the play-offs. Since then, Bayern have played 3 games against B.Dortmund, CSKA Moscow and Eintracht Braunschweig winning all 3 of them with players like Mario Gotze and Robben stepping up their game in the French man's absence to maintain their unbeaten record. Bayern Munich seem not to miss their star man a lot after all.

Another player that has brought the World on its toes is Cristiano Ronaldo. With his electric pace, unrivalled stamina and a keen eye for goal, CR7 lead the race for the most goals scored in the 2013/2014 season to date with 32 goals in 22 matches for club and country. The highlight of his season being his heroics in the World cup play-offs against Sweden scoring all 4 of his team's goals over two legs ensuring Portugal qualifies for the World cup.

CR7 continued with his impressive form for club after the international break scoring the first goal in the 5-0 rout against Almeria in the League but could not complete the match due to injury. Real Madrid have gone on to play 2 matches since and have won in convincing fashion with World record signing, Gareth Bale taking over the mantle from him. With another UCL win, 8 goals scored in 2 matches and just 3 points behind league leaders, Barcelona, you can say Madrid is still comfortable in his absence.

One player that has been missed the most among the 3 by his team is Lionel Messi. Four-time World player of the year, you can't write him out of this year's award. After getting injured against Real Betis, Barcelona have won 1 out of 3 games, loosing 2 consecutive matches after not doing so for a very long time.

Players like Neymar who was brought in for a whooping €57 million in the summer, Alexis Sanchez, Cesc Fabregas, to name 3, have failed to step up their game in the absence of the Argentine genius. It remains to be seen what happens on the long run in the absence of the Argentine.

Real Madrid and Bayern Munich seem to be coping well in the absence of their star men but is it a case of a lack of depth in the Barcelona team or the inability of other players to step up in the absence of their star man?