With the FIFA Ballon d’Or finalists nominated, the football world is gripped with the debate of whether FC Barcelona striker Luis Suarez should have made the final three ahead of Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. A look at their respective performances against quality opponents raises more questions on the omission of the Uruguay international.
While the FC Barcelona duo of Lionel Messi and Neymar won the treble and were arguably the two key players in their march to the Champions League triumph, Ronaldo scored more than 50 goals last season.
Luis Suarez missing from the list would have been acceptable in such a scenario, but not when you take a look at the the numbers posted below by an FC Barcelona fan on twitter.
The above statistic shows that Suarez performed better in the most decisive of games for the Catalans, scoring and assisting more than a goal per game against sides that went on to finish in the top four positions in the top five leagues in Europe last season. Ronaldo had no assist and had a goal every two games, a statistic that pales in comparison to the Uruguay international.
It is against the lesser teams that Ronaldo has got most of his goals or assists, thereby implying that Suarez has been the more decisive player in the bigger moments.
Another stat that reflects the superior performances of the Uruguay international in 2015 is the number of goals scored from penalties. Suarez has clearly scored more non-penalty goals in the bigger games, given he is not the designated spot-kick taker for Barcelona. In contrast to this, Ronaldo has scored a significant portion of goals from the penalty spot in games against the top teams.
.
The least that could have happened is that Suarez would have got a place in the final three, if not be placed ahead of Ronaldo in the final standings.
We all know, though, who is going to run away with the title.