With Cristiano Ronaldo once again failing to attend the Ballon d'Or gala, where Lionel Messi lifted his sixth Golden Ball, the Portuguese's absence has now been explained as he bagged two personal awards himself.
Click through the gallery above to see the Serie A Team of the 2018/19 campaign!
The Juventus superstar was a notable absentee at the Ballon d'Or awards in Paris, France, after finishing in third spot behind Messi and Virgil van Dijk.
This time around, though, Ronaldo did not stay at home as Serie A decided to have their own awards gala – the 2019 Gran Gala del Calcio – on the same night as the Golden Ball ceremony.
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While Messi lifted his record-breaking sixth Ballon d'Or in Paris, Ronaldo claimed the MVP accolade for the best player in Serie A last season, as well as the prize for the best forward in Italy's top flight, which he shared with Fabio Quagliarella and Duvan Zapata.
"I will try to speak Italian. I am proud to be considered the best striker in Italy," Ronaldo said, as quoted by Football Italia.
"I thank my teammates, the players who voted for me. After two years in Italy, I can say it is a very difficult league.
"I thank everyone for voting for me and hope next year will be the same."
Ronaldo also made the official 2018/19 Team of the Season, and is one of four Juventus players in the selection. His teammates Giorgio Chiellini and Miralem Pjanic, as well as Joao Cancelo, who has since joined Manchester City, were all selected as well.
Read: Messi Wins Record-Breaking 6th Ballon d'Or, CR7 Snubs Awards
In addition, Inter Milan's Samir Handanovic, AS Roma's Aleksandar Kolarov, Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly, Atalanta's Josip Ilicic, Cagliari's Nicolo Barella, who now plays for Inter Milan, Quagliarella and Zapata were also named in Serie A's Best XI of the 2018/19 campaign.
Do you think Ronaldo can be forgiven for not attending the Ballon d'Or gala? Have your say in the comments section below.
