- Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded Serie A Player of the Year in Milan, Italy
- The 34-year-old was absent from the Ballon d'Or ceremony in Paris
- Lionel Messi won his sixth Ballon d'Or moving one above Ronaldo who has five
Lionel Messi may have picked a record sixth Ballon d'Or award on Monday night, December 2, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil Van Dijk.
Messi won his sixth award as he edged Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk despite winning the Champions League and Ronaldo came third.
It was the first time Messi won the award since 2015 after losing out to Ronaldo twice and Luka Modric in 2018 where he came fifth.
But it was not all gloom for Ronaldo on the night as he also claimed a prestigious individual award, explaining his conspicuous absence in Paris.
The Juventus striker was crowned Serie A's best player at an awards ceremony in Milan on Monday night which he was in attendance.
He notched an impressive 26 goals in his debut season in the Italian topflight league to guide Juventus to another Serie A title.
The former Real Madrid hitman found the back of the net 21 times in 31 appearances to finish fourth in the top-scoring charts as forward Fabio Quagliarella won the golden boot award.
However, a jury comprising of fellow Serie A players, managers, match officials and journalists decided it was Ronaldo who was the league’s best player last season.
The Italian title was the third different league trophy for Ronaldo, having previously won La Liga with Real Madrid and the Premier League with Man United.
