Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the best player in Europe for the year 2017. He has also been named the Forward of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season.
Ronaldo received the accolade during Thursday's UEFA Champions League group stage draw. Two of his Madrid team-mates – Sergio Ramos and Luka Modrić – also won inaugural positional awards, with Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon taking the best goalkeeper prize.
Ronaldo's latest individual recognition comes after yet another campaign in which his goalscoring continued unabated. Where to start? UEFA Champions League top scorer for the fifth season running – his 12 goals included two in the 4-1 final defeat of Juventus – Ronaldo was as talismanic as ever in helping the Merengues to become the first team ever to retain the trophy.
In April, the Portuguese international became the first player to reach 100 goals in UEFA club competition – in just 143 appearances – and, only a week later, the first to rack up a century in the UEFA Champions League alone. Then there was the small matter of 25 Spanish top-flight goals – and a first league title in five years for Madrid – as well as a FIFA Club World Cup triumph in which Ronaldo registered a hat-trick in the final.
Ronaldo's 2016/17 in numbers
Honours*: UEFA Champions League, Spanish Liga, FIFA Club World Cup
UEFA Champions League Appearances: 13 Goals: 12 Assists: 6
Domestic league Appearances: 29 Goals: 25 Assists: 6
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