Alvaro Arbeloa has lashed out at Michel Platini for his comments on this year's Ballon d'Or winner.
The UEFA President suggested earlier this week that 2014's recipient of the individual honour should be German following Die Mannschaft's World Cup triumph in July.
Arbeloa, however, took issue with Platini’s perceived marginalisation of Cristiano Ronaldo’s efforts and subsequently jumped to his Real Madrid teammate’s defence.
"With all due respect, I don’t understand how the President of UEFA can express a [personal] opinion about an issue like this, or position himself in this manner," the full-back said during a book launch in Madrid on Thursday.
"This year, the winner of the Ballon d’Or already has a name.
"To be honest, it’s a shame for the organisers of the Ballon d'Or that there won't be much debate this year.
"For the entire football world, there's no doubt that the best player has been Cristiano, by far.
"He's had a simply spectacular season and shattered all records for goals in the Champions League.
"It may seem that [I'm saying this] because he's my teammate, but anyone who knows even just a little bit about football would agree that the winner has to be Cristiano."
