United duo nominated for 2021 Ballon d'Or award

Friday 08 October 2021 19:13

Manchester United team-mates Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo have both been nominated for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award, given to the world’s best player.

The initial 30-man shortlist has been announced today by the editors at France Football, the organisers of the event. A selection of international journalists – one representative from each nation – and national team coaches and captains will then come together to decide the winner.

They are each asked to choose their top five and order them from first to fifth, with first place awarded six points, second given four points and down to one point for fifth. This scoring system then decides who takes home the trophy.

In case you didn’t know, the award was not given out in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and, as such, there is plenty of excitement surrounding the latest event on Monday 29 November.
This is the first time that Fernandes has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or award and the United talisman fully deserves his place, following an incredible year with the Reds. 

Our no.18 helped the club to finish second in the Premier League and reach the Europa League final. He also received our fan-voted Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award for the second year in a row.

United team-mate Ronaldo has a rich history with the prize and has previously won it five times in his illustrious career, in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017. Could he make it a sixth this time around?

The no.7 finished as Serie A’s top scorer last season with Juventus and went on to win the Golden Boot award at Euro 2020, before completing his much-celebrated return to Old Trafford. He has started with a bang, too, by claiming the Premier League Player of the Month prize earlier today.
BALLON D’OR SHORTLIST

Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
Nicolo Barella (Inter)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain)
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
Jorginho (Chelsea)
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
N'Golo Kante (Chelsea)
Simon Kjaer (AC Milan)

Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea)
Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter)
Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Gerard Moreno (Villarreal)
Mason Mount (Chelsea)
Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)
Pedri (Barcelona)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid)

Congratulations to Bruno and Cristiano on your 2021 nominations.

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