Franck Ribery hits back at Cristiano Ronaldo over Ballon d'Or claim
Franck Ribery has hit back at Cristiano Ronaldo after the former Real Madrid and Manchester United forward claimed that players need to win the Champions League in order to be in contention for the Ballon d'Or.
Ronaldo has won the Ballon d'Or five times during his career, second only to Lionel Messi, who has won the award eight times.
Ribery, meanwhile, did not win the Ballon d'Or during his career and the closest he came was a third-placed finish behind second-placed Messi and the winner Ronaldo in 2013.
The former France international was tipped to pull off a huge upset by beating Ronaldo and Messi to the award after he won five trophies with Bayern Munich that year, including the Bundesliga and the Champions League.
Ribery was also named UEFA's Best Player in Europe off the back of his impressive performances for Bayern.
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But it was Ronaldo who won the award despite failing to win a trophy with Real Madrid in 2013, although he did score 66 goals in 56 appearances.
Speaking during a press conference on Saturday, Ronaldo was asked about this year's race to win the Ballon d'Or and the 40-year-old insisted that only Champions League winners should be picking up the individual award.
'The individual awards have lost some consensus, I can't say anything about who should win,' Ronaldo said.
'In my opinion, those who stand out and win the Champions League should win.
'But there is no consensus. I don't believe much in individual awards because I know what goes on behind the scenes.
'Lamine [Yamal] could win, like [Ousmane] Dembele or Vitinha, other emerging players… but individual awards are irrelevant.'
However, Ribery hit back at Ronaldo's comments on social media as he posted a message on Instagram which read: 'So you NEED to win the Champions League to win the Ballon d'Or?' More Trending
Ribery's message was accompanied by three laughing emojis.
In an interview with Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in 2022, Ribery criticised the decision to give the Ballon d'Or to Ronaldo in 2013.
'It was unfair,' Ribery said.
'It was an incredible season for me and I should have won it. They extended the time for votes, and something strange happened. I felt that it was a political choice.'
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