Cristiano Ronaldo was conspicuous by his absence at Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris.The Juventus star, who has won the prestigious individual award five times during his illustrious career, was not in attendance to congratulate Lionel Messi for winning his sixth Ballon d’Or.Instead, Ronaldo was back in Italy, picking up his own prize after being named Serie A’s Player of the Season.The Portuguese forward finished third in the voting for the Ballon d’Or this year behind Messi and Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk.Van Dijk caused a stir at the ceremony with a tongue-in-cheek comment about Ronaldo, responding “Was he a rival then?” after a reporter said to him: “Cristiano won’t be here, so that’s already one less rival.”

And this comment, it turns out, went down *extremely* badly with Ronaldo’s sister.

Katia Aveiro responded with a lengthy post on Instagram, on which she has one million followers, and did not hold back.

The post has been translated by the Metro, per the Mirror, so it may read a little strange in places - but you’ll get the gist of what she’s saying.

“Now, dear Virgil, where you are going, Cristiano Ronaldo has gone and has come a thousand times,” Katia posted.

“You see, my dear Virgil, that Cristiano Ronaldo was a tri-champion in the country where you have been playing for years and you still haven’t got your hand in the can.

"Cristiano Ronaldo was even the best player and best scorer in the country where you play Virgil. By the way, [he?] was even younger than you.

"Then, dear Virgil, Cristiano Ronaldo went to other places and became the greatest player in the history of a clubezito.

"Real Madrid, tell you something Virgil? Maybe so, because this club, with this Cristiano guy, even beat you in the Champions League final. Of these, Ronaldo already has five, Virgil.

"And that fellow Ronaldo and team-mates, with the corners on his chest, crushed your 'orange' in a final. Was it hard, Virgil? We have pity.

"And, dear Virgil, In one of the least successful times of his career, Cristiano Ronaldo has won even more titles than you. Awesome, isn’t it?

"Now Virgil will win titles from those who really count and then we’ll talk. When you have a handful of them, the really important ones, you might be able to sit at the table with Cristiano.

"It’s for me Cristiano you are and you will always be the best player in the world !!!"

Blimey. Don’t sit on the fence, Katia, tell us how you really feel…

She may have been defending her brother but sending a post like this attacking Van Dijk for a jokey comment doesn’t look great, does it?

You’d think that she’d be used to people criticising Cristiano by now and would simply ignore it.

But Van Dijk’s jibe clearly touched a nerve.

Wait until she finds out Van Dijk was only joking…