Ronaldo scooped the award for the fifth time, and for the third time consecutively, with his bicycle kick against Juventus being voted UEFA's goal of the season.

The goal was the "best" of his career, the Juventus player said, highlighting that it had been a "difficult year" for him with many changes, with him leaving Real Madrid for Italy.

Ronaldo also clinched the award in 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2017, and is the only athlete to have been named best player more than once, following ditinctions to Colombian player Ramadel Falcao in 2012, French player Franck Ribéry (2013) and Argentinian Lionel Messi (2015).

Manager Fernando Santos received the award for best coach of the year in 2016, when he was European champion with Portugal.