Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo aims cheeky jibe at award rival Antoine Griezmann by claiming Pepe was the star of Euro 2016

CRISTIANO RONALDO has taken a pop at Antoine Griezmann ahead of their fight to be named the best player in Europe.

The French striker set the continent alight as his six goals saw hosts France reach the final of Euro 2016 where they lost to Portugal.

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To be honest I didn’t think Portugal could win the Euros

Cristiano Ronaldo

Griezmann was named player of the tournament by Uefa for his efforts but Ronaldo insists team-mate Pepe deserved the nod instead.

He said: “In my book, Pepe was extraordinary this year. It was possibly his best season.

“He was undoubtedly Portugal’s best player and one of Real Madrid’s best players in the Champions League.

“I’m delighted he was selected in the team of the tournament at the Euro – in my opinion Pepe was the best player.”

Griezmann was twice beaten in finals last season as Atletico Madrid lost out to their cross-city rivals in the Champions League for the second time in three years.

But the defiant forward earlier sparked a war of words when he insisted he deserved to pip Ronaldo and his Real Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale in the race to be crowned king of Europe.

Uefa will announce the winner at the Champions League draw in Monaco tomorrow.

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Favourite Ronaldo, meanwhile, claimed he did not believe Portugal could win at the Euros until the latter stages of the tournament.

He added: “Before the Euros we expected Portugal to have a good European Championship, get through the group stage, get through the quarter-finals and from there we saw everything as a bonus.

“To be honest I didn’t think Portugal could win the Euros. But match by match I started believing it was possible.

“In the end we deserved it, we played as a team and our players are to be congratulated.”