For the first time this year, Lionel Messi climbs to the top spot of Tribuna.com's Ballon d'Or power rankings. Despite the Liverpool game being called off and Manchester United out of action at the weekend, Bruno Fernandes keeps his place in the top 10.
Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe drops down to 2nd place following the injury he picked up ahead of the Lens clash in the Ligue 1. The Frenchman is unlikely to feature against Manchester City on Tuesday, as per RMC Sport, which is potentially a huge blow to Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League chances.
Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski didn't have any Bundesliga games during the weekend while Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland didn't feature against Holstein Kiel in the DFB-Cup semi-final, so their positions remain the same – 3rd and 4th respectively.
As for Messi, the Argentine scored 2 goals against challenging Valencia side on Sunday and got Barcelona back into the La Liga title race.
Full list of contenders
1. Lionel Messi
Stats for 2021
- 26 goals
- 9 assists
- Copa del Rey won
Competitions left
- La Liga
- 2021 Copa America
2. Kylian Mbappe
Stats for 2021
- 23 goals
- 3 assists
- French Supercup won
Competitions left
- Ligue 1
- French Cup
- Champions League
- Euro 2020
3. Robert Lewandowski
Stats for 2021
- 23 goals
- 3 assists
- Club World Cup won
Competitions left
- Bundesliga
- Euro 2020
4. Erling Haaland
Stats for 2021
- 20 goals
- 9 assists
Competitions left
- Bundesliga
- German Cup
5. Ilkay Gundogan
Stats for 2021
- 12 goals
- 4 assists
- EFL Cup won
Competitions left
- Premier League
- Champions League
- Euro 2020
Other top-10 candidates right now
6. Karim Benzema – 15 goals, 3 assists.
7. Cristiano Ronaldo – 18 goals, 3 assists.
8. Romelu Lukaku – 12 goals, 7 assists.
9. Bruno Fernandes – 12 goals, 8 assists.
10. Antoine Griezmann - 14 goals, 10 assists.
Note: This is a ranking formulated by Tribuna.com. It has no affiliation to France Football, the outlet that awards the Ballon d'Or.
