Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar Shortlisted for Ballon d’Or Award

Neymar played well in the absence of Messi when he went down with an injury eight weeks ago, and has been on the same stratosphere as Ronaldo throughout the 2015 calendar year.

Real Madrid’s Portuguese star Ronaldo has claimed the award in the last two years.

The Ballon d’Or has been dominated by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi over the past seven years, with the Real Madrid man bagging the trophy three times and the Argentine taking the award home on four occasions.

“I believe that the image of the Ballon d’Or should have been Messi, Luis Suarez and me; I would have loved to be there all together”, Neymar said.

The victor will be announced in January 2016 at the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala in Zurich.

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Speaking on Monday, just over a week on from Barca’s crushing 4-0 win in El Clasico, Real Madrid defender Ramos said: “Barca should enjoy this as much as they can, nothing lasts forever”.

For the sixth straight time, the final three-man Ballon d’Or shortlist does not include a single Premier League player, while it is a decade since an Englishman last made the final three – Frank Lampard in 2005.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola is pitted alongside Barcelona manager Luis Enrique and Chile manager Jorge Sampaoli as the nominees for the Coach of the Year.

“I am grateful for these awards – after the season the team played, we deserved some recognition, maybe even a little moreÂ…”, he said.

In all competitions that goal tally rose to 122 – a new Spanish record – as Barca won the European Champions League as well as the Spanish Cup.

“He’s got everything to be the second best player in the world”. “If today I am being spoken of in such terms, it is a clear sign that what I am doing is working”.