On Monday night, Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded his fourth Ballon D’Or prize.
The 31-year-old enjoyed a stellar year, winning the Champions League with Real Madrid and also captaining Portugal to their first-ever title at the European Championships in France.
This made him the unanimous favourite to win the prize ahead of his eternal rival, Lionel Messi, who has won it five times already.
It also reflected in the voting pattern among the 173 international journalists who chose the winner. Five points were awarded to their first choice, three points to their second choice and one point to their third.
Ronaldo picked up 745 points, 429 more than Messi who finished in second place with 316 points. Griezmann polled 198 points to come third.
Final Voting for 2016 Ballon D’Or
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 745 points 2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 316 points 3. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) 198 points 4. Luis Suarez (Barcelona) 91 points 5. Neymar (Barcelona) 68 points 6. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) 60 points 7. Riyad Mahrez (Leicester) 20 points 8. Jamie Vardy (Leicester) 11 points 9. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Pepe (Real Madrid) 8 points 11. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund) 7 points 12. Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon) 6 points 13. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United) 5 points 14. Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich) 4 points 16. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) 3 points 17. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Dimitri Payet (West Ham) 1 point
Of France Football’s 30-man shortlist, 11 players received no votes. They were: Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, Paulo Dybala, Diego Godin, Gonzalo Higuain, Andres Iniesta, Koke, Hugo Lloris, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer and Sergio Ramos.
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