5 Players who could beat Lionel Messi to the Ballon d'Or award this year

#3 Cristiano Ronaldo

Another amazing campaign for the Portuguese

It's been another successful campaign for former Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo who continues to defy age and his critics while taking on challenges one after the other and proving himself as one of the greatest superstars in the history of the game.

The 34-year-old left the Santiago Bernabeu to experience a different challenge by joining Juventus in the Serie A. In his very first season, the attacker conquered the Italian top flight by winning the best player award in the division, while his return of 21 goals in 31 Serie A appearances ranks him among the most prolific attackers in Europe at the moment.

Ronaldo was also brilliant in the Champions League, recording 6 goals and 2 assists to his name in 9 appearances as well putting up arguably the best individual performance witnessed in the tournament this season with his amazing hat-trick against Atletico Madrid in the Round of 16 stage.

While he wasn't able to lead the Bianconeri to European triumph, he won both the Scudetto and the Supercoppa de Italiano in Turin - a feat that becomes even more impressive considering this is his first year in Italy.