Cristiano Ronaldo parades Ballon D’Or trophy at Bernabeu

World player of the year shows off trophy ahead of Primera Liga clash with Granada

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo holds his Ballon d'Or trophy to the crowd, before their Primera Liga match against Granada at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. Juan Medina / Reuters

MADRID // Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated being crowned as World Player of the Year in 2013 as he paraded the Ballon d’Or trophy in front of the club’s fans before their match at home to Granada on Saturday.

Ronaldo beat off stiff competition form Barcelona rival and four-time winner Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich’s treble-winning playmaker Franck Ribery to collect the prize for the second time in his career on January 13.

The Portuguese was greeted by a huge gold mosaic displayed by the 85,000 fans in attendance at the Santiago Bernabeu with “CR7” written in black letters.

And Ronaldo opened the scoring for Madrid in the second half, with Karim Benzema making it 2-0.

The win for Madrid over the Andalusians sees them top the Primera Liga for the first time since May 2012.