The year is winding down and as 2015 comes to an end the yearly CR7 vs Messi fight is on again, or as some of you may know it, the Ballon d’Or. FIFA have today unveiled the final 23 nominees, who are in contention. Check out the list and see if you agree with their verdict here.

The list is absolutely dominated by Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Real, Bayern both have five players on the list, while Barcelona come out on top with six nominations. For comparison the entire Premier League only has five members in total and there is not a single English player on the list.

Ultimately only Cristiano Ronaldo can really challenge Lionel Messi, who currently looks to be the frontrunner in most people’s eyes. There is however a little timeframe now, where Messi is injured and Ronaldo has been destroying opponents, so a late surge is undoubtedly possible and maybe even likely.

A complete list of the players nominated for the 2015 Ballon d’Or:

Sergio Aguero (Argentina/Manchester City) Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid) Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid) Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid) Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/VfL Wolfsburg/Manchester City) Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea) Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden/Paris Saint-Germain) Andres Iniesta (Spain/FC Barcelona) Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid) Robert Lewandowski (Poland/FC Bayern Munich) Javier Mascherano (Argentina/FC Barcelona) Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona) Thomas Muller (Germany/FC Bayern Munich) Manuel Neuer (Germany/FC Bayern Munich) Neymar (Brazil/FC Barcelona) Paul Pogba (France/Juventus) Ivan Rakitic (Croatia/FC Barcelona) Arjen Robben (Netherlands/FC Bayern Munich) James Rodriguez (Colombia/Real Madrid) Alexis Sanchez (Chile/Arsenal) Luis Suarez (Uruguay/FC Barcelona) Yaya Toure (Cote d'Ivoire/Manchester City) Arturo Vidal (Chile/Juventus/FC Bayern Munich)

If CR7 and Messi were not on the list, who do you think deserved to win? For me it’s definitely Lewandowski, not only for his recent goalscoring, but for his year as a whole, where he helped Bayern reassert their dominance in the league. Let us know who you think in the comment-section down below.