The France legend believes the award's current criteria means the pair will continue to dominate in the battle to be crowned the best player in the world
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| Michel Platini |
Uefa president Michel Platini says Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could win the Ballon d’Or for the next 10 years, but backed Neymar to eventually dethrone his Barcelona team-mate at Camp Nou.
The Frenchman believes that the current criteria for the award will mean that the Portuguese and Argentine will be the main contenders for the next 10 years.
In January, Platini voiced his discontent at Franck Ribery's failure to win the award after a treble-winning season at Bayern Munich, with the France international finishing in third place.
“Under the current criteria, we're heading for Messi, Cristiano, Messi, Cristiano... for 10 years,” said Platini, speaking to Le Journal du Dimanche.
He added: “Cristiano, Messi and Ribery would have made three magnificent Ballon d’Or winners. But Ribery won everything, so I would have voted for him. And not because he is French. I could vote for [Arjen] Robben or [Bastian] Schweinsteiger. Neymar still has time to dethrone Messi, even at Barcelona.”
The 58-year-old also cast doubts over Bayern's chances of winning a second successive Champions League title this season and was reluctant to comment on in-form PSG's prospectsin the competition.
Platini said: “The same thing happened three years ago with Barcelona, but no team has won the Champions League twice in a row.
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The Frenchman believes that the current criteria for the award will mean that the Portuguese and Argentine will be the main contenders for the next 10 years.
In January, Platini voiced his discontent at Franck Ribery's failure to win the award after a treble-winning season at Bayern Munich, with the France international finishing in third place.
“Under the current criteria, we're heading for Messi, Cristiano, Messi, Cristiano... for 10 years,” said Platini, speaking to Le Journal du Dimanche.
He added: “Cristiano, Messi and Ribery would have made three magnificent Ballon d’Or winners. But Ribery won everything, so I would have voted for him. And not because he is French. I could vote for [Arjen] Robben or [Bastian] Schweinsteiger. Neymar still has time to dethrone Messi, even at Barcelona.”
The 58-year-old also cast doubts over Bayern's chances of winning a second successive Champions League title this season and was reluctant to comment on in-form PSG's prospectsin the competition.
Platini said: “The same thing happened three years ago with Barcelona, but no team has won the Champions League twice in a row.
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