Ronaldo and Bale both won the Champions League over Antoine Griezmann, so that alone put the two above the Frenchman.
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Surprisingly, Lionel Messi was not nominated for the award, leaving the two Real Madrid stars and Atletico Madrid’s Griezmann to contest for the ultimate prize.
“My team-mates are the key – they are the key every year”.
Ronaldo scored 51 goals and set up 13 in 48 games in all competitions for his club last season.
Lyon forward Ada Hegerberg won the women’s award.
Real finished runners-up to Barcelona in La Liga but lifted their 11th European title, with Ronaldo converting the winning penalty in the shootout to secure victory over Atletico in the final.
Cristiano Ronaldo was named the Best Player in Europe by UEFA on Thursday in Monaco, beating out club teammate Gareth Bale and city rival Antoine Griezmann in the process.
On the other hand, Messi won the UEFA Goal of the Season award for 2015-16.
Real Madrid were drawn alongside Borussia Dortmund, Legia Warsaw and Sporting Lisbon- His boyhood club that gave him the opportunity to achieve all he has today. [Winning EURO] was different because I’ve won the Champions League three times now.
“I’m at the best club in the world and I want to retire here, at 41”, Ronaldo said. “To win something with Portugal was the highlight of my career”.
The post Cristiano Ronaldo crowned best player in Europe appeared first on Football Ghana.
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Given Ronaldo’s team success and Messi’s relative, but painful, failure to win the biggest prizes at club and global levels, expect Ronaldo to claim soccer’s most prestigious individual honor in January 2017. The other player in the fray to be crowned as the best player in Europe alongside Griezmann and Ronaldo is Ronaldo’s Real Madrid team mate and Welsh global Gareth Bale.
