It took 69 goals and a banner for Ronaldo to win the coveted Ballon d’Or award this year. Although he did not win a major trophy, he scored more goals than the two other main competitors combined and had an unforgettable season under Ancelotti.

As Messi missed much of 2013 through injury, Ronaldo took advantage as he helped Real reach the final of the Copa del Rey and the last four of the Champions League before signing a new deal with the capital club. He enjoyed his best-ever season under new coach Carlo Ancelotti and shone in the latter months of the year, as well as single-handedly firing Portugal to the World Cup with all four goals in his side's play-off victory against Sweden over two legs in November.
Not all the former Ballon d’Or winners who move from their respective top clubs in Europe or Latin America to Real are able to win the award again and many felt that would be the same for Ronaldo with Messi's reign that we witnessed for four years.

Real Madrid paid €96 million to sign Ronaldo from Sir Alex’s Manchester United in 2009. In 221 matches with Los Blancos, Ronaldo has already scored 230 goals, a match-to-goal ratio of 1.04. Many key players and icons of the game had tipped the Portuguese forward to win his second award.Ronaldo was key in his country’s qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2014 to be held in Brazil next year. He scored four goals in order to secure a spot ahead of Zlatan’s Swedish side.
Even after recording such outstanding numbers, Ronaldo’s second Ballon D’Or could be still be remembered for controversy. Josepp Blatter and FIFA put the integrity of the award in question when they decided to postpone the voting process by 15 days. First, Blatter gave comedy a try, making fun of Ronaldo’s attitude, saying that he was like a "commander on the field of play" while trying to perform funny moves. Real Madrid’s President Florentino Pérez wrote a letter to ask for a retraction. Ronaldo, meanwhile, incorporated the "commander" quip into his goal celebrations.