A notable absentee at the Ballon d'Or gala last night was one of football's finest - Cristiano Ronaldo. The Ballon d'Or finalist - third best in the 2019 Ballon d'Or ranking, behind winner Messi and second best Virgil van Dijk - was receiving an award of his own in Milan, Italy. He was awarded the Serie A footballer of the year, at the Gran Gal à del Clac On collio ceremony. After collecting the award for best Serie A player, the 34-year-old said, "I'm proud to be the best player in the Serie A. I thank my teammates and everyone who voted for me. Now, I'll work to be here again next year." He was also named in the Team of the Year alongside Samir Handanovic (Inter); Joao Cancelo (ex-Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juve), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma); Miralem Pjanic (Juve), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari/Inter), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria) and Duvan Zapata (Atalanta).
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