Cristiano Ronaldo, Lieke Martens wins UEFA Player of the Year awards

Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lieke Martens were named the UEFA Players of the Year 2017.

Ronaldo, who took the award on Thursday night, helped Real win the UEFA Champions League for a second successive time last season and also won European Championships with Portugal last year. He was shortlisted along with Juventus’ Gianluigi Buffon and FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi for the award. The player scored five goals in the quarterfinal victory over Bayern Munich, with a hat trick in the second leg at the Bernabeu.

Lieke Martens was named UEFA



Women’s Player of the Year after leading the Netherlands to the 2017 Women’s Euro title this summer on home soil.

Other awards won on Thursday night:

Best Goalkeeper of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)

Best Defender of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

Best Midfielder of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

Best Forward of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)