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Ilkay Gundogan Leaves Cristiano Ronaldo Out Of World Top Three

Ilkay Gundogan Leaves Cristiano Ronaldo Out Of World Top Three

The Manchester City midfielder named one of his teammates in the list but not the five time Ballon d'Or winner.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Ilkay Gundogan has named his top three players in the world and the Manchester City midfielder has left Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo off his list.

For a decade there was no doubt that Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were the two best players on the planet as they won the Ballon d'Or every year between them.

The two men are still at the top of the game, and Messi won last year's version of the award to go ahead of his rival, however Gundogan doesn't think Ronaldo is currently in the top three in the world.

Instead the German has picked Kevin de Bruyne in second place and Kylian Mbappe in third, behind Messi of course.

Before the season was interrupted Messi wasn't even having one of his better ones with the Barcelona forward 'only' scoring 19 goals so far in La Liga.

Whilst that puts him top of the scoring stats in Spain he is currently tied sixth in the race to be Europe's top scorer this year.

Lazio's Ciro Immobile leads the way on 27 goals, two clear of Robert Lewandowski and sixth ahead of Ronaldo and Timo Werner.

Despite City falling behind rivals Liverpool by some way in the Premier League this season, being 25 points behind with a game in hand when the league was paused, De Bruyne has continued to prove why his one of the world's best.

The 28-year-old has eight goals and 16 assists in the league this season and is the only player in the top six favourites to win the PFA Player of the Season not to play for Jurgen Klopp's team.

Sadio Mane, Jordan Henderson, Virgil van Dijk are all ahead of him with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mo Salah behind him in the betting.

De Bruyne's been in excellent form this season. Image: PA Images
De Bruyne's been in excellent form this season. Image: PA Images

In his Twitter Q&A Gundogan revealed that Mbappe and Jadon Sancho were the two players who make him think 'here's something special to watch.'

The former Borussia Dortmund player wouldn't choose between German goalkeepers Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Manuel Neuer though, saying, "Definitely both world-class goalkeepers. We should not make a problem out of it in Germany. It's a luxury problem. We can be very proud of that. But all in all I really can't say who is better."

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Manchester City, Football News, Barcelona, Serie A, Ligue 1, PSG, Lionel Messi, Ilkay Gundogan, Premier League, Ballon d'Or, Juventus, Kevin de Bruyne, Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo

Ryan is a writer for SPORTbible. He covers all sport from football, formula one, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics, mma and wrestling. He obviously hates YOUR football team and has no interest in synchronised swimming.

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@Sidler28