This archive report was first published on 3 December 2019.
On December 2, 2019, Lionel Messi made history by winning his sixth Ballon d'Or award, moving one above Cristiano Ronaldo who has five.
However, Ronaldo had a reason to smile as he was crowned Serie A's best player at an awards ceremony in Milan on the same night, December 2.
He notched an impressive 26 goals in his debut season in the Italian topflight league, guiding Juventus to another Serie A title.
Despite finishing fourth in the top-scoring charts, a jury comprising of fellow Serie A players, managers, match officials, and journalists decided Ronaldo was the league's best player last season.
It was the first time Messi won the award since 2015, after losing out to Ronaldo twice and Luka Modric in 2018 where he came fifth.
But it was not all gloom for Ronaldo on the night as he also claimed a prestigious individual award, explaining his conspicuous absence in Paris where Messi won the Ballon d'Or.
