is he in decline? i don't think so.
is the gap between Messi/Ronaldo and the rest of them getting smaller? yes, absolutely. Neymar and Suarez are playing like gods right now. we should always regret not upping our Suarez bid when Brendan Rodgers suggested we bid what the player is worth.

Messi might not be as entertaining or fun to watch as Neymar in full flight - I don't see it that way but it seems many others do - but he's about 15 times as good as Neymar could ever hope to be.

Odd that I'll have seen the best football player ever but look back more fondly to memories of Ronaldinho, Zidane and Bergkamp.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35679497

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo said "if we were all at my level maybe we would be leaders" after his side's 1-0 derby defeat by Atletico Madrid.

A first defeat under Zinedine Zidane leaves Real nine points behind leaders Barcelona, and four below Atletico.

Real were missing Gareth Bale and Marcelo through injury, while Karim Benzema was replaced at half-time.

"I don't want to disrespect anyone, but when the best players aren't available it's harder to win," Ronaldo said.

"I like to play with Karim, with Bale, with Marcelo.

"I'm not saying the others like Lucas Vazquez, Jese and Mateo Kovacic are not good players - they are very good players - but it's not the same."

You gotta love Ronaldo. It's actually impressive that he knows the names of so many of his teammates.

Gonna be so fun watching his decline with age

Bumping this after his winner vs Barca, goals vs Roma and Wolfsburg.

Thought's on where he's rated in the world?

More importantly, Neymar has tailed off badly (relative to his own standards) since the start of the season

He'll be number two again or maybe number one if Madrid win the CL.

His speed has gone down a bit and I expect it to go down a bit further but he's positionally outstanding, physically a beast and a great finisher. He can score 30+ for 3-4 more years yet.

Neymar has tailed off as Messi has geared up it seems to me.

If wins the CL and La Liga and has a good euros he could well win the Ballon d'Or.

No matter what he wins he won't be the best player in the world, but he might win the Ballon d'Or anyway.

They give the award to the guy who wins the big competitions. Otherwise if it was just technique, Messi would have won it 8 years in a row.

Ronaldo has played 46 games and has failed to score in 21 of them. Suarez played 50 failed to score in 17. He's scored a lot more winning goals than Ronaldo too.

But because Barca are out of the CL, he won't win it. If Real win it and Ronaldo fails to score in any of the last few games, he'll still be awarded it.

Isn't the award supposed to go to the player who has been the best during a calendar year? I'd contend that if that premise is true, then Messi should have won it every year for the last 8 or so years. No player has been better than him at any point in that time frame IMO. If it is an individual award, in a team sport, then why would you pay as much attention to how the team a player is playing for is doing?
Just my musings. I think the award is pointless to be honest.