'Earned not given' - Cristiano Ronaldo's sister defends Portuguese superstar and takes swipe at Lionel Messi after eighth Ballon d'Or win

Katia Aveiro commented on an Instagram post that showed an image of Ronaldo posing with his many individual awards, including his five Ballons d'Or.

The caption on the post read: "Earned, not given". Aveiro commented with five applause emojis.

The image was seen as a dig at Messi, who won his eighth Ballon d'Or on Monday. The attacker was voted the best player in the world in the last year after he guided Argentina to World Cup success in Qatar at the end of 2022.

However, many have criticised the move to give Messi the prize after Erling Haaland helped fire Manchester City to an incredible European and English treble, scoring 52 goals in all competitions last season.

Ronaldo and Messi dominated the Ballon d'Or awards for a decade from 2008. However, Ronaldo won his fifth and final prize in 2017 and came in second to Luka Modric the following year. Messi has won it three more times since then.

Messi's first game since winning the trophy again will come later this month as Argentina prepare to face Uruguay and Brazil in World Cup qualifying. Ronaldo, on the other hand, will compete with Al-Nassr on Saturday when they face Al-Khaleej in the Saudi Pro League.