Cristiano Ronaldo dominates front pages after Ballon d’Or

Cristiano Ronaldo was the dominant presence on the front of newspapers in both Portugal and Madrid as he collected a record-equalling fifth Ballon d’Or in Paris on Thursday night.

The Real Madrid forward celebrated a second successive Golden Ball triumph and a fourth in five years to match the haul achieved by his Barcelona rival Lionel Messi.

Unsurprisingly, the newspapers in his favoured regions lead on a picture of Ronaldo with Marca’s accompanying headline translating to ‘I want seven’ after he declared his intention to win two more before retiring.

Marca and AS pay tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo after his fifth Ballon d’Or triumph

‘The Biggest’ – Portuguese newspapers Record and A Bola pay tribute to a national hero

The Real Madrid star has won four of the last five Ballon d’Ors to match Lionel Messi’s record

Portuguese national Record chose the exact same picture for their front page and lead with the words ‘The Biggest’ to underline the 32-year-old’s continued dominance throughout world football. 

The same cannot be said for Catalonia’s leading titles Sport and Mundo Deportivo, both of which are renowned for being overtly favourable of Barcelona, and therefore Messi, who finished second behind Ronaldo on Thursday night.

Mundo Deportivo decided to lead with a story celebrating Barcelona’s unbeaten start to the season, which has seen them storm to a four-point lead at the top of La Liga. Sport, meanwhile, lead with Barcelona’s growing interest in Gremio star Arthur. 

Catalan newspapers Mundo Deportivo and Sport lead with other stories on their front page

Ronaldo topped the vote from 173 journalists from around the world after guiding Real Madrid to a La Liga and Champions League double last season. It was the third time in four years that Zinedine Zidane’s men had won the latter.

In each of those Champions League campaigns, the Portuguese finished top scorer and he again leads the standings with nine goals from just six group games thus far. That is in stark contrast to his league form, where he has scored just twice.

‘I hope to play at a high level for a few more years,’ Ronaldo said when asked about rival Messi. ‘Let’s have the fight continue in a good way. He will do his best for his club and his national team.  

‘And I will do my best for Real Madrid and my national team. So let’s see at the end of the day who is better and see who at the end of the year what collective awards we win and what the people voted.’

The 32-year-old won the Champions League and La Liga with Real Madrid in 2016-17