So, the inevitable has happened, Cristiano Ronaldo has lifted his fifth Ballon d'Or award, moving him level with Lionel Messi.The Real Madrid superstar was the overwhelming favourite in Paris after his goals guided Los Blancos to their second consecutive Champions League, the first time a club has retained the trophy.Messi finished as runner up for the second year in a row, while Neymar replaced Antoine Griezmann in the bronze medal position.A fair number of Ronaldo's teammates featured in the top 30, with Isco, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Marco and Karim Benzema all included.Modric finished the highest, coming fifth, with Gianluigi Buffon in fourth.After the ceremony in the French capital, Ronaldo will likely spend a bit of time celebrating the accolade and his tweet with the trophy is pretty cool.

RONALDO'S TWEET

Not a bad view that.

The legendary forward also cleared up his future plans in Paris, saying that his goal is to retire at Real Madrid.

"I hope I can play at the greatest level for a few more years," Ronaldo told reporters. "The battle continues with Messi. We're doing the best we can for our teams. I think things are happening for a reason.

"I feel good, let's see what happens in the future. I'm happy at Real and I want to stay and finish my career there if possible."

Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United were linked with him in the summer but it was always unlikely he was going to leave the club that has made him one of the biggest ever sporting icons.