Cristiano Ronaldo has been one player along with Lionel Messi to have maintained his world-class level on the football pitch in this decade. The honours he has won both at an individual and team level has just been phenomenal for the Portuguese skipper. In the last decade, he was an upcoming talent at Manchester United who had the potential to be the best in the world, but in this decade he removed the potential tag to rule the world with a dramatic rise at Madrid. Time and again his team-mates, past and present, tell the world about the efforts Ronaldo has put in be whereever he is right now. There have been plenty of iconic Cristiano Ronaldo moments in the decade; we pick our top 5. Year Ender 2019: Cristiano Ronaldo Shines With NBA-Style Goal, Italian Serie A and UEFA Nations League Wins This Year.

Four Champions League Titles: Cristiano Ronaldo had won a Champions League at Manchester United back in 2008 and was have trouble winning the next during his initial years at Real Madrid. But under the stewardship of Carlo Ancelotti, he won his first European crown at Madrid in 2014 followed by a hat-trick of UCL trophies under Zinedine Zidane in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Five Ballon d’ Or Trophies: Lionel Messi had a huge lead in the race for Ballon d’ Or trophies, but Ronaldo came back strongly to level his arch-rival at five trophies each with wins in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017. The Juventus man had won his first back in 2008 with Manchester United. Lionel Messi though went ahead of Ronaldo with a victory at the 2019 Ballon ‘d Or ceremony.

Four Goals Against Sweden: In one of his greatest performances of the decade, Cristiano Ronaldo scored four goals against Zlatan Ibrahimovic-led Sweden to take his country to the 2014 World Cup. This included a hat-trick against Sweden in the second half when Portugal were trailing 1-2 and were on the verge of getting knocked out. Year Ender 2019: From Cristiano Ronaldo to Lionel Messi, Top Footballers of This Year.

Overhead Kick Against Juventus: Cristiano Ronaldo scored the greatest goal of his long and illustrious career against Juventus in a Champions League tie when he rose acrobatically to score an overhead kick against Juventus. The goal was so good, in an event his rival fans stood up to applaud the genius of Ronaldo.

Euro 2016: Arguably the greatest achievement of Cristiano Ronaldo in this decade was winning the 2016 European Championship with Portugal and end his international trophy drought. The Portugal skipper further added a UEFA Nations League title to his cabinet as well recorded his name in the history books forever. Cristiano Ronaldo Shares Photo With Girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez, Juventus Star Enjoys Time Away From Football (See Post).

These were our picks for the top five Cristiano Ronaldo moments of this decade and, we can only hope the living legend continues to enthral his fans with more such moments in the future.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 31, 2019 06:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).