'Blancos' rally round Ronaldo for Ballon d'Or

Despite the opinion of a few external individuals, such as Michel Platini, within the Real Madrid squad there are no doubts: Cristiano Ronaldo should be named the best player in the world for a third time.

Carlo Ancelotti was the first to stick up for his player publicly this week, answering Xabi Alonso's recent comments backing Manuel Neuer for the prize: "Xabi must be one of a small number of people that don't believe Cristiano is going to win. It's difficult to believe that anyone else could win it".

Pepe was even more forthright: "It would be an embarrassment if Cristiano didn't win the Ballon d'Or. He's never played as well as he is this season. It would be a real scandal if he didn't win it". The team's other Portuguese, Fábio Coentrão, expressed a similar opinion a couple of days ago: "There's never been such a huge gulf between CR7 and the second best. No matter how hard they campaign, they won't change something that is so clear in everyone's mind".

Marcelo has also spoken up in support of CR7, and the latest player to express his support for the Portuguese goal machine was Álvaro Arbeloa, who said: "It's a shame for the organisers of the Ballon d'Or that it's not up for debate. Cristiano is by far the best. He won the Champions League and the cup and he demolished records in the Champions League".