Portugal great Cristiano Ronaldo wins fifth Ballon d´Or to equal Messi

Real Madrid and Portugal ace Cristiano Ronaldo equalled Lionel Messi’s five Ballon d’Or awards after retaining football’s most prestigious individual prize for the second year running.

The 32-year-old was named France Football’s player of the year for the fourth time in five years after a brilliant 2016-17 in which he won LaLiga and the Champions League with Real Madrid.

Ronaldo also became the all-time leading scorer in Europe’s top five leagues when he reached 366 goals in May to overtake Jimmy Greaves.

His two goals in Madrid’s Champions League final victory over Juventus also took the Portugal star past 600 career goals, while Messi only reached the 500 mark for Barcelona six weeks earlier.

Messi finished second to Ronaldo in the vote, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Neymar completing the top three.