Top 5 footballers of 2018

#3 Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo is now setting records for Juventus in Serie A

The Ronaldo/Messi story is really a touchy one, as both men have been on an almost equal level of play for the last decade and have almost an equal number of feverishly dedicated fans that placing one above the other in any ranking is all but guaranteed to trigger an online war and a hurl of insults at the writer.

However, the job must be done even at the risk of being trolled and despite not taking anything away from what Cristiano Ronaldo achieved in 2018, he can only find himself in third place in the list of the best performing players this year.

The Portuguese was instrumental, playing a massive role as Real retained the Champions League once more, winning the UCL Golden Boot with 15 goals, with most of them coming in crucial matches as Los Blancos' all-time record goalscorer almost single-handedly won the intense knockout fixture against Juventus.

He followed that up with match-winning displays at the World Cup, scoring four goals including a hat-trick in the opening match against Spain which made him the highest scoring European international of all-time.

The 33-year-old sealed a record-breaking transfer to Juventus in the summer and has continued from where he left off, banging in goals for fun to help Juventus make the best start ever in Serie A history as they aim to win the Scudetto for the eighth time consecutively.

The mercurial Portuguese ended 2018 with 49 goals and 13 assists from 53 appearances for club and country, which makes a mockery of those who suggest he is on a decline.