The two great rivals face competition from the Liverpool ace as well as a plethora of other great players, with fans set to decide this year's winner
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah have all been named on the GOAL50 men's shortlist for 2021.
Robert Lewandowski, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland are also strong contenders for the prestigious annual prize, which has undergone an exciting overhaul.
Indeed, this year, it will be the fans who decide who finishes top of the pile.
Check out the contenders below and then cast your votes to decide the winner. Voting is open from November 2 until November 16.
- Getty
Dani Alves – Defender, Brazil
The Brazilian isn't just still playing at 38 years of age, he's still winning, with the most-decorated footballer of all time having added to his medal collection after leading his country to gold at the summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Advertisement
- Getty
Nicolo Barella – Midfielder, Inter and Italy
The all-action midfielder excelled during Inter's Serie A title-winning campaign before lifting the European Championship trophy, with the undoubted highlight his crucial opener in the quarter-final win over Belgium.
- Getty
Karim Benzema – Forward, Real Madrid and France
One of the few success stories of France's Euro 2020 campaign, the centre-forward bagged four goals in total to justify his surprise recall, which had arrived after another stellar season for Real Madrid in which he struck 30 times.
ENJOYED THIS STORY?
Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting
- Getty
Leonardo Bonucci – Defender, Juventus and Italy
The centre-back helped Juventus salvage a trying Serie A campaign before becoming a national hero with the crucial equaliser in Italy's Euro 2020 final defeat of England.