The only man to score past the veteran in this
year's Champions League knockout phase
thinks he should be in pole position for the
prize.
Kylian Mbappe believes that Gianluigi Buffon
would be a worthy winner of the Ballon d'Or
after a monumental season with Juventus,
although he admits Cristiano Ronaldo is more
likely to take the award.
Mbappe is so far the only man to put a goal
past the Juventus goalkeeper in this year's
Champions League knockout phase, but it was
not enough to avoid a 4-1 aggregate defeat for
Monaco in the semi finals.
There are no hard feelings, though, as the
teenager heaped praise on Buffon ahead of
the competition's showpiece between Juve
and Real Madrid in Cardiff next week.
"For all of his work, [Buffon] deserves the
Ballon d'Or, but I think it depends on the
Champions League final," he explained to
Eurosport .
"If Real Madrid win, I think it will be Cristiano
Ronaldo but otherwise, I think it would be
good for Buffon to win the Golden Ball. "
Despite his admiration for Buffon, Mbappe's
loyalties will be split as he watches the action
at the Millennium Stadium.
Leading Madrid will be Zinedine Zidane, the
teenager's compatriot and his all-time idol on
the pitch.
"The one who made me love football was
Zidane. Afterwards I developed several idols
but really Zidane was my very first idol," he
said, while also commenting on the
comparisons he has invited with fellow legend
Thierry Henry.
"It's flattering to be compared to Henry, but
as I said and I repeat: 'everybody writes his
story.'
"Thierry has made his career and it was
immense, I think it would not be fair to
compare an 18-year-old who has not done
anything yet.
"If I make a great career, I would not want to
be compared to an 18-year-old who has not
done anything yet."
Mbappe smashed 26 goals in all competitions
for Monaco in 2016-17, enjoying a superb
second season that helped his team take the
Ligue 1 title.

mabappe! what do you know about ballon d'or?

Lol. Maybe because Buffon is the hardest goal keeper he has played against. Ororolala!