Ronaldo honoured by former Ballon d´Or winners at Bernabeu

Real Madrid fans turned the Santiago Bernabeu gold before Saturday’s LaLiga match against Granada as Cristiano Ronaldo was honoured for his fourth Ballon d’Or triumph.

Ronaldo scooped the most coveted individual gong in world football last month on the back of Madrid’s march to Champions League glory and Portugal’s Euro 2016 triumph.

Supporters held up sheets of gold paper as the teams entered the field on Saturday, with Ronaldo’s four Ballon d’Or trophies laid out on a table.

Ronaldo took his place beside them for a short ceremony, where he was greeted by previous winners and ex-Madrid stars Raymond Kopa, Michael Owen, Luis Figo and former Brazil striker Ronaldo.

Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane was also among their number – the French World Cup winner claimed the Ballon d’Or in 1998 – and Kaka and Fabio Cannavaro sent their congratulations via video messages on the stadium screens.

A smiling Ronaldo then posed for photographs before Madrid kicked off in a bid to extend their club-record unbeaten run to 39 matches, a feat that would pull them level with Barcelona’s all-time best mark for a Spanish side.

Today isn’t the first time that @Cristiano has received the Ballon d’Or before playing Granada at the Bernabeu #RealMadridGranada pic.twitter.com/LEfAxZFejE

— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) January 7, 2017