Franck Ribery has hit back at Cristiano Ronaldo after the former Real Madrid and Manchester United forward claimed that players need to win the Champions League in order to be in contention for the Ballon d’Or.

Ronaldo has won the Ballon d’Or five times during his career, second only to Lionel Messi, who has won the award eight times.

Ribery, meanwhile, did not win the Ballon d’Or during his career and the closest he came was a third-placed finish behind second-placed Messi and the winner Ronaldo in 2013.

The former France international was tipped to pull off a huge upset by beating Ronaldo and Messi to the award after he won five trophies with Bayern Munich that year, including the Bundesliga and the Champions League.

Ribery was also named UEFA’s Best Player in Europe off the back of

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