The Ballon d'Or, to be awarded on 26 October in London, has entered its voting phase after "France Football" and UEFA unveiled the list of thirty nominees last Tuesday.
A panel of 100 specialist journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings will decide the winner. Voting closes on Monday 28 September.
"Mundo Deportivo" put it this way: "Therefore, the results of the remaining matches may influence the voters, although the performance the team produced last season, which was crowned by Spain's World Cup victory, is the primary criterion."
World champions Lamine Yamal, Rodri and Pau Cubarsí can seize their next three games for Barcelona to gather more votes: Levante today, Racing on Wednesday 16 September and Sevilla on Saturday 19 September.
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The three criteria for voting for the Ballon d'Or
The organisers have set out clear criteria. First, decisive and impressive individual performance. Second, collective results and titles won with club and country. Third, class and fair play.
England host Spain in the UEFA Nations League at Wembley on Saturday 26 September, and the timing could hardly be tighter. It lands just 48 hours before voting closes.