Messi and Ronaldo: The 9 players who would have won Ballon d'Or without them

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated their era of football.

Since Ronaldo first claimed the Ballon d’Or in 2008 the duo have swept all before them year after year.

And as we sit here looking back in 2022, the two can lay claim to a monumental 12 Ballon d’Or awards between them.

Such is their dominance that Luka Modric’s single Ballon d’Or victory in 2018 remains the only occasion any other player has been able to win prize since they first started doing the business.

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However, as the 2022 ceremony approaches, it looks like we might finally have another new winner in the form of Karim Benzema.

The Frenchman is a heavy favourite after enjoying a stellar 2021/22 campaign. A season in which he was instrumental in leading Real Madrid to the La Liga and Champions League.

But whilst it was undoubtedly a special year for Benzema, you can bet that a few players who enjoyed equally impressive campaigns, however, were ultimately outshone by the might of Messi or the undeniability of Ronaldo, will be looking on enviously.

Who do we speak of? Well, a graphic shared via Reddit has outlined which player would have won the Ballon d’Or each year between 2008-2021 if Messi and Ronaldo were excluded from the picture.

The player stated would have come second or third in the voting behind the stars and therefore, would technically have claimed the prize should we discount the duo.

2008: Fernando Torres (Liverpool) 2009: Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona) 2010: Andres Iniesta (Barcelona) 2011: Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona) 2012: Andres Iniesta (Barcelona) 2013: Franck Ribery (Bayern) 2014: Manuel Neuer (Bayern) 2015: Neymar Jr (Barcelona) 2016: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico) 2017: Neymar Jr (Barcelona)