Cristiano Ronaldo: Massimiliano Allegri hails Juventus superstar as deserved 2018 Ballon d'Or winner
Posted: 5 December 2018 Time: 08:30
Cristiano Ronaldo was the 'deserved' winner of the 2018 Ballon d'Or and will use the second-place disappointment as motivation to become the first Juventus player to lift the award since Pavel Nedved in 2003, according to his manager.
Ronaldo, 33, finished second to his former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric for the 2018 edition, which saw him equal a record previously held by Lionel Messi, for the most podium finishes.
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After the FC Barcelona captain's surprising fifth-place ranking, both football icons have now finished in the top three a record 11 times.
???????? Winner of the 2017 Ballon d'Or, Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) is 2nd this year #ballondor pic.twitter.com/QC8urW4Kae
— #ballondor (@francefootball) December 3, 2018
However, Juve head coach Massimiliano Allegri feels the five-time winner of the award was hard done by and fully expects the disappointment to fuel him further this season after a record-breaking start in Serie A.
The last player to achieve the feat for the Bianconeri was Czech Republic legend Neved 15 years ago.
"I think he deserved to win the Ballon d'Or for what he did with Real Madrid, winning the Champions League," he told reporters, as quoted by FourFourTwo.
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"At the World Cup with Portugal honestly he couldn't go any further [than the round of 16]. Therefore, I mean, he deserved it.
"But I think that this can be a motivation to do even better this season and win the next Ballon d'Or with Juventus."
