MADRID, Jan 25 — Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated being crowned as World Player of the Year in 2013 as he paraded the Ballon d’Or trophy in front of the club’s fans before their match at home to Granada today.

Ronaldo beat off stiff competition form Barcelona rival and four-time winner Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich’s treble-winning playmaker Franck Ribery to collect the prize for the second time in his career on January 13.

The Portuguese was greeted by a huge gold mosaic displayed by the 85,000 fans in attendance at the Santiago Bernabeu with “CR7” written in black letters.

A victory for Madrid over the Andalusians will see them move top of La Liga for the first time since May 2012. — AFP