Real Madrid and Barcelona strikers on Ballon d'Or shortlist

Gareth Bale is the only British footballer to make the shortlist for the Ballon d'Or for the second year running as the influence of the English Premier League in Europe continues to stagnate.

Only five English-based players make this year's shortlist for the second year running, and one of them, Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, spent most of the last 12 months with Wolfsburg.

Two of the five Premier League players, Chelsea's Eden Hazard and Yaya Toure of City were on the list last year, while Toure's team-mate Sergio Aguero and Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez are new additions along with De Bruyne.

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This year's shortlist of 23 has a very similar look to last year's with 16 of the players nominated for a second year running. Indeed, only four players (De Bruyne, Sanchez, Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal) have never been nominated before.

Once again it is Real Madrid and Barcelona that dominate the shortlist with 11 players between them and the Spanish giants' "devastating forward lines will go head-to-head... after both club's strike trios were named on the 23-man shortlist", reports The Guardian.

Bale, Karim Benzema and Ronaldo (collectively known as the BBC) are up against Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar (MSN).

Bayern Munich have five players in the running, with strikers Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller in the frame.

Just as worrying as the lack of English players on the shortlist is the lack of English players taking part in the Champions League, says the Daily Telegraph.

Despite having four teams in the competition, only 12 English players have taken part in the tournament this season, fewer than Belarus and Israel.

Spain lead the way with 59 players, with Brazil in second on 53.

The "dearth of home-grown talent among the four Premier League squads is borne out by the damning statistic", says the Telegraph.

"While the bulk of the Israelis and Belarussians have played for Maccabi Tel Aviv and BATE Borisov respectively, one club from each of those nations has been able to provide more home-grown players than the four Premier League giants can muster collectively," laments the paper.

Ballon d'Or shortlist:

Sergio Agüero (Manchester City), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Neymar (Barcelona), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich), James Rodríguez (Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal), Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Yaya Toure (Manchester City), Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich).