Cristiano Ronaldo will be absolutely gutted that he missed out on the FIFA Best Player award last night.

The Portuguese was pipped to the accolade by his eternal rival Lionel Messi, with the Argentine winning the award for a record sixth time.

Ronaldo was not present at the ceremony in Milan and there is still no official reason for his absence.

Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri confirmed that Ronaldo will not be in the travelling squad for the Bianconeri's Serie A tie with Brescia on Tuesday evening due to muscle fatigue.

So there is absolutely no reason why he couldn't have attended the event, but I guess he wasn't keen on watching Messi beat him to another award.

And the 34-year-old couldn't resist putting himself in the limelight after Messi was honoured in Milan, as he uploaded a rather odd Instagram post from his home almost straight after.

RONALDO'S INSTAGRAM

The Portuguese superstar's caption read: "Patience and persistence are two characteristics that differentiate the professional from the amateur.

"Everything that is big today has started small. You can't do everything, but do everything you can to make your dreams come true.

"And keep in mind that after night always comes dawn."

Ronaldo taking the philosophical approach.

In a recent interview with Piers Morgan, the 34-year-old declared his intent to win more personal awards than Messi during his career.

The pair are still level when it comes to Ballon d'Ors, but Messi will now be odds on to scoop that award as well come the end of the year.

Can Ronaldo turn the tide in the twilight years of his career? You wouldn't put it past him, but he may need some serious help from his Juventus and Portugal teammates.