Ronaldo and Buffon Honored at Champions League Draw

Cristiano Ronaldo and Gianluigi Buffon were both honored at the UEFA Champions League 2024-25 draw ceremony in Monaco.

Portugal captain, Cristiano Ronaldo received an award for being the all-time Champions League top goalscorer with the 39-year-old netting 141 goals during his spells with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. During that time he also won the competition on five occasions; once with Manchester United before four times with Real Madrid including three in a row from 2016-2018.

"Thank you for this amazing award. It means a lot to me. As you know, the Champions League is the highest in football. I had the opportunity not only, you know the record speaks for itself, but I don't mean that, I mean the pleasure to play in that competition as Buffon says it's our motivation," Ronaldo said.

Meanwhile, Buffon received the UEFA President's Award, as the former Italy and Juventus goalkeeper was recognised for his stellar career.

The 46-year-old won 10 Serie A titles but was never able to lift the Champions League trophy, finishing runners-up on three occasions.

Buffon did win the UEFA Cup (now known as the Europa League) during his time with Parma in 1999.

Buffon finally hung up his gloves a little over a year ago, ending his career where it had started back in November 1995 with Parma.

"The biggest reason why I played for such a long time because but not because I wanted to win it but because I enjoyed playing it. It's different. Without a doubt it's the most important competition for soccer," Buffon said.

After Buffon and Ronaldo received their awards they took part in the draw for the league phase of the revamped Champions League which will feature 36 teams in the 2024-25 season.