Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo Thursday defeated Barcelona’s Lionel Messi to win the Ballon d’Or award for the fifth time – and the second year in a row.
The victory took the 32-year-old Portugal international level with 30-year-old Argentine Messi, who won the most recent of his five awards in 2015.
Last season, Ronaldo helped Real Madrid win the Champions League and their first La Liga title since 2012.
