Ronaldo won the best player in Europe award

The Portuguese striker was honored by UEFA for the second time thanks to his successes with Real Madrid and the national team.

Cristiano Ronaldo ended the 2015-2016 season with the Champions League title and shortly after, led the Portuguese team to the Euro 2016 championship.

Ronaldo won another important award. Photo: AFP.

Ronaldo's victory over teammate Gareth Bale and Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann to win the award was not unexpected. This is the second time the 31-year-old star has been named the best player in Europe by UEFA. He previously won the award in the 2013-2014 season. Ronaldo is now on par with Lionel Messi in terms of the number of times he has won the award.

Last season, Ronaldo played 36 times in La Liga, scoring 35 goals and providing 11 assists. In the Champions League, he played 12 times, scoring 16 goals and providing four assists. At Euro 2016, Ronaldo played in all seven matches for Portugal, scoring three goals and providing three assists. In the final, he had to leave the field early due to injury but still enjoyed the joy of victory in the end.

The Best Player in Europe award is voted for by journalists from UEFA's 55 member associations. Each submits a list of five players they rate highly. The top 10 players then go through to the second round. A second round of voting sees Ronaldo, Bale and Griezmann named the overall winner.

In the women's category, Norwegian player Ada Hegerberg was named the best female player in Europe for the 2015-2016 season.

According to VNE