Ballon d'Or 2014: Vote in our poll - who deserves to win, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Manuel Neuer?

Ronaldo is the favourite but Neuer and Messi were superb at the World Cup

Tom Sheen
Monday 01 December 2014 18:06 GMT
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Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi or Manuel Neuer?

It has come down to these three for the Ballon d'Or - the Real Madrid forward who helped his team win La Decima, the Barcelona man who has broken nearly every goal scoring record one could think up and the Bayern Munich goalkeeper, undoubtedly the best in the world and a World Cup winner.

Ronaldo is far and away the bookies' favourite with some offering odds as short as 1.14 for the Portuguese superstar.

Ronaldo has contributed 61 goals (45 goals, 16 assists) in just 37 La Liga and Champions League appearances this calendar year, helping Los Blancos to their 10th European Cup and Real to top spot in La Liga.

Odds for Neuer, meanwhile, can be found as long as 11. But there is a growing campaign to see the goalkeeper voted as the best player in the world, given his contribution to Bayern and Germany.

Neuer helped Pep Guardiola's team to a Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal Cup double last season, as well as playing every minute of Germany's victorious World Cup campaign. However, a goalkeeper has not won the award since Lev Yashin way back in 1963.

Messi meanwhile has, according to some, had a sub-par year as Barcelona went trophyless. But he led Argentina to the World Cup final and was voted player of the tournament - though his winning of the award was controversial.

The Barca star has also broken numerous records in recent weeks, including being Barcelona and La Liga's top goalscorer ever, at the age of 27.

So who deserves to win it? Vote in our poll (voting will close at 2pm)...

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