5 players who could have won the Ballon d'Or in the absence of Ronaldo and Messi

#3 Franck Ribéry

There haven’t been many more devastating wingers in the game than Franck Ribery.

Across his Bayern Munich career, the 36-year-old scored 124 goals and provided 182 assists in 425 games. The 3-time Football of the Year and 1-time UEFA Best Player won 15 domestic trophies in Germany alongside 1 Champions League title.

In 2013, Ribery had his best season to date. That was a campaign where his team won 5 trophies, while he scored 22 goals and provided 18 assists in the process. In addition to that, Ribery created 149 chances in 52 appearances all competitions. When you fuse all this together, Ribery had the credentials to win the Ballon d’Or, he’s just unfortunate that he plays in the same era as Messi and Ronaldo.

The former Bayern winger was so upset he wasn’t awarded the title in 2013, he went on a massive tirade in the aftermath. The Frenchman was quoted as saying “I feel I had earned this award. It’s all politics.” Perhaps he was right to feel aggrieved.