Ronaldo wins his third UEFA Player of the Year

Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo steals the UEFA awards show yet again as Portuguese international grabbed best forward and player of the year awards in Monaco.

The 32-year-old was shortlisted along with Gianluigi Buffon and Lionel Messi for the player of the year award, which was created in 2011.

It was presented to the Portugal international at the Champions League group stage draw on Thursday.

Ronaldo's outstanding performances helped Los Blancos to become the first club to retain the Champions League trophy.

He scored five goals in the quarterfinal victory over Bayern Munich, with a hat trick in the second leg at the Bernabeu.

Another treble followed in the first leg of the semifinal against Atletico Madrid, and two more goals came in the final success over Juventus.

The shortlist was selected using votes collected from the 80 coaches of teams in the group stage of either the Champions League or Europa League and 55 journalists put forward by the European Sports Media (ESM) group.

In addition to Ronaldo's honour, 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 the night:

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

Best Defender of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Sergio Ramos

Best Midfielder of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Luka Modric

Best Forward of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Cristiano Ronaldo