Cristiano Ronaldo did not include Lionel Messi or Neymar in his Ballon d’Or voting nominations – with the Barcelona duo also ignoring him with their choices.
The trio all shared a stage tonight as the award for the world’s best player was picked up by Barcelona superstar Messi.
And it seemed very civil from the off as all three players sat next to each other at the gala event in Zurich, Switzerland.
But, had it been up to Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar wouldn’t have shared the stage with him – with the Portugal captain using his three votes on Madrid team-mates Karim Benzema, James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale, in that order.
Messi got a vote as Argentina captain and he went for an all-Barca line-up of Luis Suarez, Neymar and Andres Iniesta in first, second and third respectively.
And Brazil skipper Neymar – who was a Ballon d’Or nominee for the first time – opted for Messi, Suarez and Ivan Rakitic.
[…] victory over Bolivia on Tuesday. That strike placed Messi on 499 in his senior career and the 5-time Ballon d’Or winner has set his sights on hitting his next milestone in opposition to fierce competitors actual Madrid. […]