August 25 – He may feel unloved in Spain where he has been handed a five match ban for laying his hands on a referee after he had been sent off, but he was certainly feeling the love from the rest of Europe last night when he picked up the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award for the 2016/17 season.
Ronaldo picked up the award at the Champions League draw in Monaco last night for the second successive time and the third time in total. He topped a poll of the 80 coaches in the group stage of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
On the final shortlist of three, Ronaldo beat Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who picked up the Best Goalkeeper award, and long time awards rival Lionel Messi.
Last season Ronaldo was Champions League top scorer with 12 goals, including two in the final. He received a thumping 482 points in the poll, with Messi (141 votes) and Buffon (109 votes) finishing second and third respectively.
Ronaldo’s career stats are always wort repeating. He has scored 530 times in 721 matches overall. He has scored 407 goals in 396 appearances for Madrid – including 90 goals in 88 UEFA Champions League matches. Adding his 15 goals in 52 Champions League appearances for United means that he is the overall top scorer in Champions League history.
While Ronaldo was picking up the men’s award, Barcelona and Dutch forward Lieke Martens has been named UEFA Women’s Player of the Year for the 2016/17 season.
She finished ahead of her fellow shortlisted candidates – Wolfsburg and Denmark striker Pernille Harder and Olympique Lyonnais and Germany playmaker Dzsenifer Marozsán – in a poll of the 16 UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 coaches and the eight who led teams in the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-finals.
Martens was player of the tournament as the Netherlands won UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 on home soil, scoring three goals.
UEFA Awards in full
UEFA Men’s Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo
UEFA Women’s Player of the Year: Lieke Martens
Best Goalkeeper of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Gianluigi Buffon
Best Defender of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Sergio Ramos
Best Midfielder of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Luka Modrić
Best Forward of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Cristiano Ronaldo
UEFA President’s Award: Francesco Totti
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