How many big matches did Madrid actually play in 2013? Not many since the title race was over in December 2012. There's basically just the Dortmund matches, the CdR final and el clasicos (because el clasico is always important). In those 7 matches: 4 goals, 1 red card. Nothing extraordinary.
Oh please. If Buffon gets it has nothing to do with Ronaldo having won 4 already. Its about Buffon having won 0 and possibly winning a treble right near the end of his career.
Not sure I'd say that. I'm sure one of the incentives, at least for some, of such a decision would be that one of the players with a monopoly on the trophy doesn't get it again.
We've seen no evidence of that playing a factor in the voting in the last several years. Last year Ronaldo had 4 times as many points in voting as the next guy not named 'Messi'. Hence the word "possibly".
I have to say Buffon sympathy plea is starting much earlier than those of Sneijder, Ribery, and Neuer. I mean the guy hasn't even delivered one notable performance during this CL running but he's already the chosen out of 11 other well performing team mates. With exception of 1 hand save from not so powerful Iniesta shot I struggle to recall anything spectacular from Buffon. With exception of Pique, Shaka Hislop, and probably many other current and former Juve/Barca/Bayern and maybe Griezman and some Celta players I think many will struggle to convince the masses on which great performance/s warrants Buffon to be possible Ballon d'Or winner.
Please entertain me of Buffon's heroics. Problem of being denied to watch Juve just so that I can miss his special performances.
So to just confirm my suspicion of the "sudden" growing admiration and preference I went into this year's archives to just read on match report on the four group games I didn't watch. Summary then, not now with nostalgia; Sevilla 0-0 MOM Dyabala Zagreb 0-4 Dyabala Lyon 0-0 Buffon (saved penalty) Lyon Higuain Zagreb Cuadrado Sevilla Higuain Last 16 Porto; Dyabala X 2 Barca and Monaco we all know.
That's why the Balon should just be renamed as best attacking player until we recognize clear goals saved. That way goalkeepers can be recognized for their invaluable contribution. Buffon's point blank saves inside the box are as good as goals. He has had at least 10-15 of them in the CL this season. If Juve are to win on Jun 3rd, he will have to make at least two crucial saves.
None of this will matter if Real win as it should go to Ronaldo especially if he scores in Cardiff. The more interesting question is what should happen if Juve win. I think it will depend on how the game unfolds. If Higuaín scores, he will have just about as many goals as Ronaldo but on a treble winning side. If Buffon and co shut out Real, Buffon merits the balon. Juve fans know how many times he has absolutely saved Juve. In these scenarios, it would be farfetched to give it to Ronaldo who will only have won La Liga. Juve fans don't care as long as they lift the real prize.
vs Lyon was his best in years. Without it we seriously could have missed out on qualifying to the KO round. vs Porto he had nothing to do. vs Barca in the first leg he had 2 crucial great saves vs both Suarez and Iniesta in the first leg. In the second there wasnt much to do. vs Monaco in the first leg he pulled off 1 good save after a great Mbappe run and another fantastic game from a header in the dying minutes. In the second Monaco like Barcelona didnt really trouble him.
I got nothing against Buffon but even in the game that is supposedly standout game I honestly don't see any special saves, i.e. something worthy of Ballon d'Or (not that I was around to see Yashin's saves in the 60's). The reason I posted the video was basically to allow anyone to look closer into those saves. Lacazette's penalty was poor imo but I generally give credit to the keeper irrespective of how the penalty was taken. In the second half there is a save from header which was headed right on Buffon's legs and I honestly don't see anything special with that. The only save that I consider great is the one where he saved with his leg. I'm not sure if I agree with the highlighted statement but you follow Juve. Lyon game was away and the second game of the group, and Juve still had to play four more games so I am not sure how crucial the result of that game was towards making it out of that group. In all honestly the other saves that you highlighted are not that impressive imo. I will go as far as saying in one game Neuer pulled more impressive saves that the entire CL season of Buffon, but that is just me. I will not comment on Serie A as in most cases I only watch highlights so it will be unfair to judge him on that. One thing I can say with confidence is that Juve defence gives very little away and the kind of protection they give to their keeper will likely turn any decent keeper into a world class goalkeeper.
I wonder if Buffon is like an Oliver Kahn though, a keeper who also does a lot to help organize the defense. So, instead of discounting the GK because he has a great defense in front of him, maybe the keeper deserves credit for organizing said defense. I don't watch Buffon nearly enough to comment though.
On the basis of the matches I've watched Juve defence is so organised and seem to have plenty of understanding between them. I am not sure whether I can credit that organisation to the keeper and in all honestly it will be difficult to prove whether is partly due to their keeper, understanding between defenders, coaching, or combination of experience and all previous factors mentioned. Nevertheless this basically result in Buffon doing very little to elevate his status as a potential Ballon d'Or winner...that is all I am saying. Relatively speaking, how different has Buffon's performance vs. those of e.g. Buffon, Chiellini, etc?
Now blame Buffon because Juventus defense is great??? What happen to you people? Surely Buffon performance isn't too special. He may not win Ballon d'or but neither does someone who always blame teammateand wait for offside goal. Chiellini Bonucci Barzagli,this trio desserves ballon d'or though this award is garbage
Should Juve win the CL and the treble, if not Buffon, who should receive the award? It would be more nonsensical to give Ronaldo the Balon unless Real win the CL. Whatever credibility the award has left would be done. Again, if Real win Ronaldo is the clear candidate. It becomes far less certain who deserves it in the event that Juve win the treble. In that scenario the winner has to be a Juventus player.
This is senseless post as none of the people who've been participating in this discussion has blamed Buffon for anything. The point being made is whether there is a supporting evidence to single out Buffon as a potential Balon d'Or winner even though he didn't standout in during the campaign? As per the evidence provided earlier Buffon only won 1 MOM in the second game of the group stages vs. Lyon. Even the likes of Higuain had at least 2 MOM performance while Dyabala had about 4 if I'm not mistaken. So the question is 'If Buffon was any other keeper who wasn't well respected and on the verge of retiring will this performance put him anywhere closer to winning Ballon d'Or?" Since you mentioned Chiellini, Bonucci, and Barzagli as the ones who deserve this award why don't you just include the other 18 players from both Juve and Real? Off course the one who blames teammates and wait for offside goals you can exclude in the list.
I know this might sound controversial but imo none of the Juventus player stood out to an extent that they can win the award. Imo it is clear when watching Juventus play that team effort prevails over individual brilliance in most cases. It was the same when the likes of Inter(2010)/Spain (2012/Bayern 2013 and unfortunately I happen to agree with the voting results in those years. So like I said in the post below Juventus will likely push Buffon's ticket as Dyabala one isn't promising as things stand. However, imo in case Juve wins the winner will likely be between Messi and CR7 for the umpteenth time and performance between September - Dec 2017 will be crucial. The difference this time around is that one Juve player (i.e. Buffon as he's clearly the chosen one) will win from Journalists vote while FPOY might go back to one of the usual suspects.
The same can be said of Madrid this particular season. Its been a balanced team effort. Of course if the BD goes to a Madrid player there is only one guy who will get it, but same is true for Juve just because of the whole Buffon storyline.
The difference is that for Madrid somebody scored 8 out of 10 goals that were scored by his team in the quarters and semis. You'll have to be a very good spin doctor to conclude that the scenarios are similar. It is not like there are 5 guys who scored 2 goals each and then one of them is picked because of being exemplary, is a nice guy, deserves it because he's been playing forever, etc, etc.