Who will win the Ballon D'Or, Messi, Neuer or Ronaldo?

Manual Neuer is up for the Ballon D'Or on Monday

The three names fighting to win the coveted trophy include a goalkeeper and then the two usual suspects.

On Monday the jewel in the crown at FIFA's glitzy awards ceremony in Zurich will be the crowning of the 2014 World Player of the Year.

The most coveted individual award in the game has become a shoot-out in recent times between iconic rivals Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo - winners of the last six awards between them.

Both men are short-listed again along with Germany's Manuel Neuer - seeking to become the first goalkeeper to collect the award.

We assess the merits of this year's final three contenders.

Lionel Messi - Argentina/Barcelona

Just 27 years old, Messi has already assured himself of a place in the history books by winning this award on four successive occasions from 2009 during Barcelona's golden spell.

By Messi's incredible standards, 2014 was a relatively lacklustre year. Barcelona surrendered their La Liga crown to Atletico Madrid and lost out in the Copa del Rey decider to arch-rivals Real Madrid.

Messi ended the season with 28 La Liga goals - beaten only by Ronaldo. In November just past, the Argentine sensations hat-trick against Sevilla saw him finally surpass Telmo Zarra's 251 goals and set a new benchmark for scoring in the Spanish top tier.

At the World Cup in Brazil, Messi played the starring role in helping Argentina to the final against Germany, scoring four times along the way and collecting the Golden Ball as Player of the Tournament.

Despite losing to Mario Gotze's extra time goal, Messi had answered the critics that said he failed to perform for his country in major tournaments.

Manual Neuer - Germany/Bayern Munich

What a year for the outstanding Neuer between the sticks. A league and cup double with Bayern was swiftly followed up with a World Cup winner's medal in Brazil.

Unsurprisingly, Neuer was heralded as the tournaments best goalkeeper, keeping four clean sheets in seven games.

Neuer was on hand to make key saves as Germany edged a tense tussle with Algeria in the Last 16 while France were unable to land a telling blow in their quarter final meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

What differentiates the 28-year-old from his goalkeeping peers and in all likelihood places him in the final three here is ability to act as a sweeper behind his defence.

Neuer is alert to through balls, coming to clear danger and is also remarkably proficient in possession, with Bayern regularly including him in passing movements.

Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal/Real Madrid

Not for the first time this year, Ronaldo is on a hat-trick. In collecting his second Ballon D'Or last January he became the first Portuguese to land prize on multiple occasions.

It has yet again been a scintillating year for the darling of the Bernabeu. He finished last season with 31 La Liga goals in 30 games and collected a Copa del Rey medal.

It was in the Champions League that he found ultimate glory in 2014.

An all-Madrid final in Lisbon capped a brilliant year for Ronaldo with Real eventually overcoming their city rivals in extra time and Ronaldo converting a late penalty for a remarkable 17th Champions League goal of the season.

His haul of 17 goals trumped the previous record of 14 set in 2011/12 by - you guessed it - Messi.

With a whopping 26 La Liga goals in 15 games this season, Ronaldo and Real are favourites to regain the Spanish title.

The Winner:

Given the most recent list of winners it would be a breath of fresh air to see Manuel Neuer collect this award on Monday.

Neuer is a brilliant goalkeeper and his confidence on the ball has provided many golden moments at Bayern Munich.

The reality is that Ronaldo will take the honours once again. In the last three years the Madrid star has emerged from Messi's shadow to undoubtedly become the equal of his arch-rival.

We can debate the merits of both players but realistically we are just lucky to be watching them in their peak years.

They appear to spur one another on to bigger and better things with each passing season and on Monday they will likely have shared seven straight Ballon D'Or awards between them. Their likes may never be seen again.