Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted that he expects rival Lionel Messi to beat him to the Ballon d'Or in January.

Ronaldo, 30, scored 61 times in a goal-laden 2014-15 campaign which he claims was 'probably the best season of his career' as far as individual achievements are concerned.

Nevertheless, Messi netted 58 times in helping Barcelona to another treble last term, and the Portuguese - who has won the gong on three occasions - expects his old foe to triumph for a fifth time.

"To be honest I think Messi is going to win this year because this kind of trophy, it depends on votes," he told ITV during an interview with chatshow host Jonathan Ross.

"You win competitions, you win Champions League you win the league in terms of individual.

"I did probably the best season of my career which is good and I was the highest scorer in Europe [but] it's all about votes, it's difficult and to be honest I'm not very worried about that because as I said many times, I never [thought I'd] win three times to be honest."

The likes of Neymar, Robert Lewandowski and Luis Suarez are also in the reckoning for the sport's most coveted individual prize.