Why was Cristiano Ronaldo absent from the Fifa Best Awards ceremony?

The Juventus star missed out on the top award in Milan to Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo posted this image on his Instagram account.
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Football's biggest names, including Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, turned out in Milan for a night of glitz and glamour at the Fifa Best Awards on Monday night.

But there was one very obvious absentee - Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Juventus star was shortlisted for the Player of the Year award, along with Messi and Virgil van Dijk, but ended up coming second to the Barcelona striker.

Ronaldo was named in the Fifa Fifpro Men's Team of the Year. However, there was an awkward moment when the list was read out and the ten other players were all present on stage. Ronaldo's name was then missed off.

So where was he?

The answer appears to have been revealed on his Instagram account where he posted a picture for his 184 million followers showing him sat at home on the sofa reading a book.

The caption to the image read: "Patience and persistence are two characteristics that differentiate the professional from the amateur. Everything that is big today has started small. You can't do everything, but do everything you can to make your dreams come true. And keep in mind that after night always comes dawn."

Ronaldo won the best player award in 2016 and 2017 and did receive a vote from Messi this year, though the Argentine's first choice was Liverpool's Sadio Mane, with Barcelona teammate Frenkie de Jong receiving his third-placed vote.

Ronaldo meanwhile ignored Messi and placed Juventus teammate Matthijs de Ligt in first, De Jong in second and Mbappe in third.

It is understandable that the Portuguese may have wanted to put his feet up ahead of Juventus's match at Brescia this evening. He has been suffering from muscle fatigue, according to manager Maurizio Sarri, having played three games in seven days.

However, teammate De Ligt made the journey, and Milan is actually on-route to Brescia. Messi is also in action on Tuesday, as Barcelona host Villarreal.

Ronaldo has scored two goals in five games for Juventus this season, and has also netted five times in two European Championship qualifiers for Portugal.