Cristiano Ronaldo named UEFA Player of the Season for 2016/17; bags award for third time

Reuters

New Delhi: Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been named as the UEFA Player of the Season for 2016/17, today, at Monaco, inscribing his name for the third time.

It was earlier last week that the Portuguese international was shortlisted alongside Juventus captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi for the silverware. The nominees were then announced based on the votes taken from 80 coaches of the clubs that featured in the Champions League and the Europa League last season, along with votes from 55 other journalists too.

Coming into the night, Cristiano Ronaldo proved instrumental in helping his side Real Madrid win the Champions League trophy for the second consecutive time and 12 accounting overall results. He was, in fact, the top scorer in the tournament with 12 goals, two coming off in the final against Juventus at Cardiff, in June. Real Madrid had also clinched the La Liga award, the UEFA Super Cup and more recently the Spanish Supercopa.

The 32-year-old grabbed the silverware with 232 votes, finishing ahead of arch-rival Messi (141 votes) and Buffon (109 votes). It was for the second consecutive time, but third in overall, with his first coming off following his spectacular performance in the 2013-14 season. His thrid European Player of the Season award puts him ahead of Argentine Lionel Messi, who has two such awards to his name.

"I'm so glad to be here, and honoured to win this trophy again," Ronaldo said after receiving the award. "Thank you to my team-mates and congratulations to them too. I'm so blessed – thanks also to the supporters of Real Madrid, and everyone who helped me to achieve this trophy."