Published By: Rohit Chatterjee

How the 2003 Ballon d’Or and European Football Looked Like Without Messi & Ronaldo

The Messi-Ronaldo era is being called officially over after both the legends failed to make the 30-list Ballon d’Or nomination

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi and his Portuguese counterpart Cristiano Ronaldo have failed to make it to the 30-list nomination for the Ballon d’Or award this year, which will be presented on October 28. This is the first time the two legends have not been included in the list since 2003, which many are pointing to as the end of the Messi-Ronaldo era.

For the uninitiated, Ronaldo was the first to get into the Ballon d’Or nomination in 2004, whereas Messi joined the bandwagon in 2006. Between the two, Messi and Ronaldo shared 13 d’Ors, with Messi having eight and Ronaldo winning five.

We are thoroughly aware of how the battle has been between the two legends. The new-gen fans know the gritty of the Ballon d’Or nominations and wins, as the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo race began in 2008, with Ronaldo winning the first.

However, the memories of football fans may not be able to recount how the Ballon d’Or game was prior to the arrival of Messi and Ronaldo.

2003 Ballon d’Or

In 2003, Czech Republic midfielder Pavel Nedvěd won the Ballon d’Or with 190 points. He was only the second Czech to receive the award and the first after the breakup of Czechoslovakia. Behind was Thierry Henry with 128 points whereas the third position went to Paolo Maldini with 123 points. The other seven players in order were Andriy Shevchenko, Zinedine Zidane, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Raúl, Roberto CarlosGianluigi Buffon and David Beckham.

Ronaldo, Henrik Larsson, Alessandro Del Piero, Dida, Roy Makaay, Alessandro Nesta, Deco, Nihat Kahveci, Francesco Totti, and Michael Ballack were the players who ranked between 11 and 20—players whose names may not be known today by new-gen football enthusiasts.

A glance at 2003’s football

  • The 2003-2004 Champions League remains one of the best in the tournament’s history. After all, who would’ve thought FC Porto would win the title against Monaco by three goals?! Jose Mourinho, the Special One, did the impossible.

  • Arsenal scripted the year of the Invincibles, winning the Premier League without losing a single game. The Arsene Wenger-led team won 26 matches and drew 12, securing 90 points, whereas second-placed Chelsea stood at 79. Arsenal’s centre forward Thierry Henry scored 30 goals, the league’s highest.
  • The 2003-04 season was full of surprises as in the La Liga, it was not the usual battle between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Valencia topped the La Liga table with 77 points whereas Barcelona finished in second the place. Surprisingly, the third place was not grabbed by Real Madrid but Deportivo de La Coruna and Madrid settled in the fourth spot.

  • Serie A witnessed Milan topping the table with 82 points whereas Roma, Juventus and Inter finished in the second, third and fourth places, respectively.
  • In France, the 2003-04 Ligue 1 title went to Lyon. The team won 24 matches and scored 79 points, keeping PSG away with a difference of three points.