Ballon d'Or: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Manuel Neuer in numbers

Trio up for Fifa award

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Manuel Neuer are in a three-way battle for the Fifa Ballon d'Or award which will be dished out in Zurich later today.

Whilst direct comparisons between Messi and Ronaldo are simple enough to draw - they both play in the same league and in similar positions - with goalkeeper Neuer in the mix it's not so simple. Judging who should win the award based on most goals might be a bit unfair to the German.

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So instead, we've pulled out some key stats on each of the contenders that show why they made it to the final three...

LIONEL MESSI IN 2014

Scored 50 goals in 52 games for Barcelona

19 assists in 52 appearances for Barcelona

8 goals in 14 appearances for Argentina

Won the World Cup golden ball, recognising him best player at the tournament in Brazil

Beat La Liga's all-time top scoring record of 251 goals

Reached final of World Cup with Argentina

CRISTIANO RONALDO IN 2014

56 goals in 51 appearances for Real Madrid

21 assists in 51 games for Real Madrid

5 goals in 9 appearances for Portugal

Won the Champions League and Supercopa with Real Madrid

Ronaldo (AFP)

MANUEL NEUER IN 2014

Kept a clean sheet in 55 per cent of games

Took 45 touches per game

Won the World Cup with Germany

Won the golden glove award in Brazil

Won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal with Bayern Munich

Manuel Neuer

The winner will be announced later today.