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#2 Cristiano Ronaldo's mediocre season
The Ballon d'Or was the personal playtoy of this generation's two elite footballers - Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi until Luka Modric pipped the duo to the accolade last season. Ronaldo has had a mediocre first season with Italian champions Juventus, who were knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals by a youthful Ajax side. This was the first year since 2009-10 that Ronaldo didn't feature in a Champions League semi-final. The record Champions League goalscorer managed only six goals in Europe's premier club competition this season, only half of Messi's tally of 12.
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Ronaldo has taken his time to settle in Turin and is currently third in the Seria A top goalscorers' list behind Sampdoria's Fabio Quagliarella and Atalanta's Duvan Zapata. Despite Juventus romping to their eighth consecutive Seria A title with ease, they were eliminated from the Coppa Italia by Atalanta. Despite scoring in both legs of their Champions League quarter-final tie against Ajax, CR7 was unable to stop the Dutch heavyweights from progressing.
With Ronaldo having won the majority of his five Ballon d'Or's on the back of sensational Champions League campaigns, his mediocre outinfs this season pips the Ballon d'Or race in Messi's favour
