Twitter erupts after Cristiano Ronaldo beats Lionel Messi to win fifth Ballon d'Or crown

Everybody predicted Cristiano Ronaldo to win the 2017 Ballon d'Or and France Football made it official today as the Portuguese forward collected his fifth trophy. The Real Madrid star has now equaled Lionel Messi's haul of five Ballon d'Or titles with no signs of stopping.

Ronaldo beat the likes of Messi, Neymar, Luka Modric and Giuanluigi Buffon - who all finished in the top five after all the votes were counted.

And as expected, Twitter users the world over reacted to Ronaldo winning the award.

Here's the moment Ronaldo picked up the award and soaked in the adulation of the crowd at the ceremony.

The numbers don't lie.

Of course, Messi (and his legion of fans) weren't spared after ronaldo caught up with his tally. The Argentine forward had won four in a row between 2009 and 2012 after Ronaldo picked up his first in 2008 (with Manchester United).

However, since then Ronaldo has picked up the award in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017 while Messi only won it again in 2015 (when Barcelona won the treble).

But there were plenty more who had immense respect for both players' achievements. Can you imagine the last time neither player won was back in 2007 when Kaka won the title?

And there were a few who just wanted to troll the Real Madrid star...