Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah dropped a stinking 5.87 match rating against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night. Is that the kind of performance befitting a Ballon d’Or winner?
Well, after Salah’s worst performance of an otherwise outrageous season, we have looked at the last eight Ballon d’Or winners to see if they had a similarly awful performance during the season that secured them the award.
Two played so badly they were given under a 6.0 by WhoScored and one of them just happens to be the only winner from the Premier League.
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Lionel Messi (2018/19)
Worst match rating: 6.71 v Real Madrid
The magic of the Copa del Rey will make Lionel Messi look human… or not.
The ridiculous Argentine’s worst performance across an entire season earned him a 6.71 match rating. Seriously?
He only played from the 63rd minute and Barcelona drew 1-1 in their semi-final first leg against Los Blancos.
Cristiano Ronaldo (2015/16)
Worst match rating: 6.48 v Barcelona
Real Madrid were trounced 4-0 at home by arch-rivals Barcelona on November 21, 2016 and Cristiano Ronaldo was absolutely helpless.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was all but a spectator as Luis Suarez scored a brace and Neymar and Andres Iniesta grabbed one each. Lionel Messi didn’t even start the match and made his return from injury with his side three goals ahead in the Bernabeu.
It was an awful start to the season for Real Madrid under Rafael Benitez but they bounced back under Zinedine Zidane and went on to win the Champions League, though they did finish second in La Liga, only one point behind Barcelona.
Ronaldo was ineffective in that El Clasico but ran away with the Ballon d’Or after scoring 51 goals across the season.
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Cristiano Ronaldo (2016/17)
Worst match rating: 6.45 v Las Palmas
Ronaldo went back to back as Real Madrid did the same in the Champions League. After scoring 16 goals in the title-winning 15/16 campaign, he bagged 12 in 13 in 16/17.
His worst performance came in a disappointing 2-2 draw at Las Palmas but again, a 6.45 is nowhere near a 5.87. A recurring theme is that Salah did at least win his match… even if the only goal came from his replacement less than a minute after the substitution.
Luka Modric (2017/18)
Worst match rating: 6.38 v Bayern Munich
A lot of Luka Modric’s Ballon d’Or victory came down to Croatia’s unlikely World Cup final appearance in Russia but we are focusing on club football only.
The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder – named La Liga’s worst signing of the season in 2013 – did not have a single bad game in 17/18 really, but his worst performance was against Bayern in Real Madrid’s 2-2 Champions League semi-final second leg draw, according to the algorithm.
The magical Croatian played in right-midfield and picked up a yellow card for his troubles.
Lionel Messi (2022/23)
Worst match rating: 6.02 v Stade Reims
Annoyingly, there is no match ratings anywhere from Paris Saint-Germain’s French Cup defeat to Marseille, which might have snuck under a 6.0. Anyone else and we would refuse to let it slide but it’s Messi so he probably did enough.
There is no doubt Messi was not his scintillating best for PSG but he won the World Cup with Argentina and did well enough at club level to win his eighth Ballon d’Or.
A 6.02 in a home draw to Reims didn’t help his case but the blame can be passed on to substitute Marco Verratti, who received a red card when his team were 1-0 up.
Lionel Messi (2020/21)
Worst match rating: 6.02 v Athletic Club
Messi was given a 120th-minute red card with his side 3-2 down in the Spanish Super Cup final, which had a big ol’ effect on his match rating. SofaScore give less of a t*ss about the red, giving Messi a 7.30 for his performance up to that point.
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Karim Benzema (2021/22)
Worst match rating: 5.88 v Elche
Real Madrid could only draw 2-2 at home to Elche in La Liga on January 23, 2022 and it could have been so different had Karim Benzema not missed a penalty to put them 1-0 up.
Modric was trusted with a spot-kick later in the match, which started the comeback from two goals down.
WhoScored had Benzema as the worst player on the park that day and it was surely the lowest he felt in an incredible season.
Benzema actually missed two penalties in a match against Osasuna later that season but still managed a 6.42.
Rodri (2023/24)
Worst match rating: 5.83 v Nottingham Forest
Red cards will do that to a man.
Rodri is one of two Ballon d’Or winners from the last eight years to have a proper shocker in the season he earned the biggest individual accolade in football.
The Manchester City talisman was sent off after losing his head in a standard Premier League victory over Nottingham Forest. He decided to grab Morgan Gibbs-White by the throat and was given his marching orders.
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