On Monday night Lionel Messi collected his seventh Ballon d'Or award, but his long-term rival Cristiano Ronaldo was nowhere to be seen after deciding to snub the ceremony.
The Manchester United star finished sixth in the Ballon d'Or voting for the calendar year, trailing Robert Lewandowski, Jorginho, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante in the polling.
Ronaldo sent a message from United’s training facilities on Tuesday to show that he had moved on from missing out in the running for the award which he has remarkably won on five separate occasions.
Yet his former Juventus boss Max Allegri has now rubbed salt in the player’s wounds by insisting that Messi was a deserving victor in the awards ceremony and he was ‘the best in the world’.
Ronaldo and Allegri worked together at Juve in the 2018-19 campaign, where they won the Serie A title before the coach was relieved of his duties as the club sought to modernise their style of play.
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His successor Maurizio Sarri landed the Serie A title before being replaced by Andrea Pirlo, who could only manage a top four finish in his sole campaign at the helm – coupled with the Coppa Italia crown.
Allegri returned to the role this summer and despite previously having a seemingly cordial and even close relationship with Ronaldo previously, the dynamics of that appeared to have changed.
The coach explained after his return that the Portuguese superstar should have accepted more rotation and it is possible that Ronaldo’s desire to leave Turin this summer was, at least in part, accelerated by Allegri’s appointment.
Now the boss has snubbed his former star forward when asked to discuss who was a deserving Ballon d’Or winner this year.
Allegri told a press conference this week, as per Football Italia: “They picked Messi and we can say that technically he is the best player in the world.
“But I don’t know what they base their judgement on.”
Earlier this week, Ronaldo had hit out at claims that the personal award motivated him and his ambition was to win more individual gongs than Messi.
"[France Football editor-in-chief] Pascal Ferre lied, he used my name to promote himself and to promote the publication he works for," Ronaldo claimed, after Ferre published alleged quotes attributed to the player.
"It is unacceptable that the person responsible for awarding such a prestigious prize could lie in this way, in absolute disrespect for someone who has always respected France Football and the Ballon d'Or.
"And he lied again today, justifying my absence from the Gala with an alleged quarantine that has no reason to exist."
Ronaldo will be hoping to silence the doubters with his form for Manchester United, as his side host Arsenal in a Premier League clash on Thursday before taking on Crystal Palace under new boss Ralf Rangnick three days later.
