All-time Ballon d'Or Winners XI

Left Wing: Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo

After winning his first Ballon d'Or title in 2008, Ronaldo had to watch from the sidelines as a dominant Barcelona helped Messi clinch four in a row between 2009 and 2012. But that did not stop the Portuguese forward who has now drawn level with the Argentine forward with five.

Winning four of the last five has proven his credentials as one of the greatest of all time despite being 32 years old now. And the fifth was well-deserved, especially after scoring 10 goals in the knockout stages of the 2016/17 Champions League - including hat-tricks against Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid before grabbing a brace in the final against a highly-fancied Juventus.

Ronaldo has been written off time and again and yet he comes back stronger. The 2017/18 season has seen him get off to a poor start in La Liga but he has already set a new record in the Champions League after scoring in each and every game in the group stage.

Whether he can keep Messi (and now Neymar) at bay in 2018 is up for debate but his hard work and determination to succeed to prove everyone wrong remains one of his strongest suits.