• Ronaldo tried hard to make his return to Manchester United "The Cristiano Show."
• But the Juventus FC forward was upstaged by his own teammate — the young midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur.
• That is not to say Ronaldo was woeful as he was anything but. He played a part in the only goal of the game, and tested United's goalkeeper with stinging shots.
• But Bentancur pulled the strings from midfield by showing intuitive positioning, well-timed tackling, and expert passing.
• At 21 years old, there may be even more to come from the Uruguayan player.
• Read all of Business Insider's soccer coverage for the 2018-2019 season right here.

Cristiano Ronaldo tried as hard as he could to make Tuesday's match against Manchester United all about him.

He wanted it to be "The Cristiano Ronaldo show," to create and score goals, and to be the main man responsible for winning the match on his return to the club that helped make him the global superstar that he is today.

But none of those things came true, really. Sure, Ronaldo helped Juventus return to Turin in Italy with a crucial UEFA Champions League group stage victory, but he was ultimately upstaged by an unheralded 21-year-old called Rodrigo Bentancur.

Yes Ronaldo embarked on lung-busting runs, ran the channels, and attempted wild, TV-friendly shots on goal. And yes, Ronaldo's strike-partner Paulo Dybala scored the game's only goal when he struck from inside the penalty box in the first half of the game, but it was Bentancur who ran this show.

"I'm watching Ronaldo, you're watching Ronaldo, but Rodrigo Bentancur is running this game,"New York Times columnist Rory Smith tweeted in the middle of the match.

By half-time, Bentancur had 55 touches on the football and tallied 52 passes, of which 96.2% were accurate.

Bentancur played in the Juventus midfield alongside his more experienced teammates Miralem Pjanić and Blaise Matuidi, but the Uruguayan's performance — intuitive positioning and well-timed tackling combined with expert passing — belied his own young age.

That is not to say Ronaldo was woeful, as he was anything but. "Have probably seen Ronaldo live a dozen times in the last 18 months or so, and this is by some distance the most involved he's been in general play in any of them,"Smith said. "He's chasing back, he's dropping deep, he's giving and going."

Ronaldo was involved in the only goal of the game, when he fired in a cross from the right-hand side, only for the ball to eventually find its way, via a ricochet, to Dybala — who scored a straight-forward, one-touch, left-footed finish.

Watch the goal right here:

Ronaldo also had chances of his own. He thumped a powerful free-kick straight at David de Gea, before testing the Spanish shot-stopper with an awesome strike on the edge of the box later in the game.

Watch de Gea's reflexive save right here:

Or here if you are in a different region:

Because Bentancur plays in an unfashionable position, performing an unfashionable role, he does not attract the highlight-reels that Ronaldo and Dybala can create — the goal-ridden ones that most fans truly love.

But his 91% accuracy rate from his 86 passes perhaps tells its own story, and it is his midfield play which allows Dybala and Ronaldo to flourish.

Yes, Ronaldo and Dybala may play the Hollywood-type roles, but A-list actors still need great producers — and on the pitch, that is what Bentancur is proving he can do. Whether it's retrieving or retaining possession, Bentancur produces.

SEE ALSO: Lionel Messi scored a goal, created another, but then fractured his arm and is now sidelined for the biggest FC Barcelona match of the year

DON'T MISS: Shares in Juventus FC have doubled since it bought Cristiano Ronaldo, and it's probably only the beginning

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• Selena Gomez's reign as the most followed person on Instagram has ended.
• The title now belongs to soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, as reported by Elle.
• Gomez has a famously complicated relationship with social media and doesn't even have access to her own Instagram account.
• Ronaldo was recently accused of raping an American woman in 2009, which he "firmly" denies.

Selena Gomez has been unseated by Cristiano Ronaldo as the most followed person on Instagram.

Elle reported on Monday that Gomez, who had held the title for multiple years, now has 144,308,767 followers, while Ronaldo has 144,309,204.

Gomez has not posted on the app since September 23, when she announced she would be taking another break from social media. (Ronaldo posts semi-regularly.)

The "Back to You" singer has a famously complicated relationship with social media and doesn't even have the password to her own Instagram account.

"Numbers don't matter," Gomez said during an Instagram Live video in late September. "None of this matters. I don't care how many followers I have. I don't. It's insane — so many people are obsessed. Like, chill out."

Ronaldo's new position on the social app comes on the heels of a recent sexual assault accusation leveled at the Portuguese soccer star. Kathryn Mayorga, a 34-year-old American woman, came forward in September to accuse Ronaldo of raping her in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.

Ronaldo paid her £287,000 (nearly $370,000 USD) in an out-of-court agreement and she pledged never to speak of the incident again, Mayorga's lawyer, Leslie Mark Stovall, said.

Ronaldo issued a statement on Twitter in which he "firmly" denied the accusation.

"Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in," he wrote. "Keen as I may be to clear my name, I refuse to feed the media spectacle created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense."

In a second tweet, he added, "My clear conscious will thereby allow me to await with tranquillity the results of any and all investigations."

Ariana Grande and Kim Kardashian West are currently the third and fourth most followed celebrities on Instagram, with over 132 and 119 million followers, respectively.

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

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• Cristiano Ronaldo scored an incredible second half goal for Juventus, against his former club Manchester United on Wednesday.
• The goal was so good it was worthy of winning any game, but United had different plans and engineered a thrilling comeback in the final five minutes.
• Juan Mata equalised with an excellent free kick in the 86th minute, four minutes before an own goal gave United the lead and the victory.
• Watch some of the goals below.
• Read all of Business Insider's coverage for the 2018-2019 soccer season right here.

Cristiano Ronaldo was one of the worst players on the pitch before he unleashed a stunning volley, scoring for Juventus FC against his former club Manchester United.

The center back Leonardo Bonucci supplied Ronaldo with a beautiful pass over the top of the United defense, which Ronaldo ran into and hit first time with customary aplomb in the 65th minute of Wednesday's match.

It was a shot as instinctive as it was technically-exquisite, and it lit up the Juventus Stadium and looked like setting the home team on its way for a UEFA Champions League victory against its English opponent.

Watch Ronaldo's goal right here:

Or watch here if you are in the UK:

So good was the goal that it elevated Ronaldo's individual match rating on soccer statistics website Whoscored.com to 7.62, having previously ranked him as one of the worst players on the pitch.

With the goal, it was like Ronaldo finally had the headline he craved — helping his new team to beat his old one. A headline he tried so hard to write two weeks ago, when he failed to make the club's trip to Old Trafford "The Cristiano Show" and was ultimately upstaged by his 21-year-old teammate Rodrigo Bentancur.

But José Mourinho's United, so inconsistent and underwhelming in the Premier League, ripped up the form book, ripped up the script, and spoiled Ronaldo's night.

This is because United scored two goals in the final four minutes of normal time. The first, a Juan Mata free-kick, completely bamboozled Juve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny — a dead ball so beautifully-hit that even Ronaldo would have enjoyed it, had it been struck from his boot, rather than the Spaniard's.

Here's Mata's free kick:

But United had more in the tank after that 86th minute equaliser, as an own goal gave Mourinho's team a 2-1 victory, one that had seemed so unlikely earlier in the game.

"What a nice last five minutes!" Mata said on the BT Sport broadcast after the game.

Victory was perhaps savored most by Mourinho himself, who walked onto the Juventus pitch after the final whistle and taunted the fans by putting his hands up to his ears. The gesture attracted the wrath of Bonucci, and other Juventus players.

Watch the United manager's reaction below:

"Beautiful Italians insulted me for 90 minutes and then I didn't insult them, I just made a little thing," Mourinho told the live BT Sport broadcast.

"I respect Juventus, their players, their manager, everything, the quality they have. I'm really proud of my boys because their performance was really good."

SEE ALSO: Ronaldo tried to make the Manchester United match 'The Cristiano Show,' but was ultimately upstaged by an unheralded 21-year-old

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A prominent research group in Switzerland has put together a list of "estimated transfer values" for the most expensive footballers in Europe — and the veteran striker Cristiano Ronaldo barely makes the list.

The FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has also been kicked out of the top five, as younger players continue to replace two of soccer's most established superstars.

Football think tank CIES Football Observatory adopts a "scientific perspective" to its methodology, taking into consideration six factors when putting a price on the head of Europe's top players:

1. Player performance: The quality and consistency of their form
2. Player performance in relation to their club: Are they the star player?
3. International status: How established are they for their country?
4. Contract: Players with longer deals are more expensive
5. Age: Younger players command higher fees
6. Position: Goal scorers are more expensive than goalkeepers

Without further ado, here are the 21 most valuable footballers in England's Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Germany's Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A, and France's Ligue 1, ranked in ascending order.

Read all of Business Insider's coverage for the 2018-2019 world soccer season here.

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21: Luis Suárez, FC Barcelona — €110.6 million ($127 million)

20: Bernardo Silva, Manchester City — €112.2 million ($127.8 million)

19: Sadio Mané, Liverpool FC — €122.8 million ($141 million)

• Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neymar Jr all make the top 10 in this list of the most dominant soccer players in world football.
• The ranking considers recent form from six of the sport's biggest leagues, including the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, and MLS.
• Keep scrolling to find out who the current number one player in world soccer is.

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neymar Jr have all begun the 2018-2019 world soccer season in fine fashion, but who has performed the best?

Business Insider studied data from soccer statistics website Whoscored.com to deliver a power ranking of the most dominant 27 players in the sport right now.

Whoscored.com configures its player rankings based on position-specific metrics that include blocks, interceptions, and tackles for defenders, total passes and pass completion for midfielders, and goal creation, shots on goal, and goals for attackers. With this in mind, each athlete in this ranking has been given a score for form, with the 27th best player averaging 7.46/10.

The ranking only considers recent performances, and therefore credits a consistent ability to continually dominate regardless of which league the player competes in.

Who is the best footballer in world soccer? Keep scrolling to find out — and check back to see how the ranking changes.

SEE ALSO: Read all of Business Insider's coverage for the 2018-2019 soccer season right here

=T26: DC United striker Wayne Rooney — 7.46.

Who is he: He's Wayne Rooney, how could you forget his name?

Why is he here: Rooney swapped life at Everton FC for a career swansong in the MLS and single-handedly rescued DC United from the bottom of the league into the playoffs. His impact cannot be underestimated.

=T26: Atlanta United striker Josef Martínez — 7.46.

Who is he: Josef Martínez is a Venezuelan goal machine.

Why is he here: Martínez is the only player in the entire MLS to have outscored Zlatan Ibrahimović this season, and he did so with ease, breaking the MLS scoring record. Martínez has scored 33 goals in total, with five assists to boot, and will likely be Atlanta United's key man in the team's quest for the MLS Cup.

=T24: FC Barcelona and Uruguay striker Luis Suárez — 7.47.

Who is he: A tenacious striker, Luis Suárez is the type of player who will not rest until he's scored a goal by nutmegging the keeper.

Why is he here: Suárez is the best FC Barcelona forward not named Lionel Messi. He already has nine goals and four assists from 11 starts (that's a goal scored or created every 77 minutes), and his best game of the season was his remarkable three-goal display in the 5-1 battering of Real Madrid in October's El Clásico.

• Lionel Messi stole the show on Wednesday.
• The 31-year-old scored an incredible goal and created another, to guarantee FC Barcelona a 2-1 victory over PSV Eindhoven.
• Playing a part in both goals underlined his status as the Champions League's best player this season, far better than the traditional top player Cristiano Ronaldo.
• But while Messi has excelled, Ronaldo has struggled.
• Read all of Business Insider's coverage for the 2018-2019 soccer season right here.

Lionel Messi stole headlines on Wednesday when he conjured up two moments of other-worldly magic, one goal and one assist, to guarantee FC Barcelona victory over PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Champions League.

Messi's form this season in all competitions has been nothing short of scintillating, as he has sufficiently recovered from a fractured arm to bamboozle defences, wow crowds, and leave commentators purring.

And he did just that on Wednesday evening when he scored one and set up another to ensure Barça beat the Dutch 2-1 in Europe's premier club competition.

Game-winning ability is one thing, but adding unparalleled skill to the equation is quite another.

Barcelona's first goal was like something out of a FIFA video game, when some young gamer spams the system with an obscene cheat code to produce a show-stopping goal. All it does is make the opponent want to rip the console's plug out of the socket, throw the controller on the floor in frustration, and leave the room forever.

Messi is that good.

Watch Messi's incredible goal right here:

Or here if you live in a different region:

Messi showed off extraordinary close control and manipulated what little space he had to powerfully thud the ball into the goal with little backlift in his shot.

The fact that four deft touches left the PSV defenders with no room to block the shot only adds to the Argentine's greatness in penalty box situations.

But what is perhaps more impressive is that his six goals and one assist from three Champions League outings so far this season mean he is responsible for scoring or creating a goal once for every 37 minutes he has been on the pitch. Nobody in soccer should be that prolific… but Messi is.

He is, by far, the main man in Europe right now — and he is finally dominating his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo in the competition.

Read more: The 27 most dominant soccer players in the world right now

By contrast, Ronaldo has struggled

Ronaldo and the Champions League have been a match made in heaven as the Portuguese striker won three championships in a row during his final three seasons at former club Real Madrid CF.

On top of that, Ronaldo's mentality in the biggest games on the grandest of stages had recently been superior to Messi's, as this Business Insider study last season shows.

Read more: We analysed who the better big-game player is, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi — and the stats show the winner is clear

But Ronaldo's effectiveness since his transfer to Juventus FC has been waning. The veteran goalscorer, who has tallied 43 goals in his last three European seasons, has scored only once in the current campaign.

Ronaldo, normally so good in Europe, has been limited to one goal or assist for every 149.5 minutes he has been on the pitch.

The balance of power has shifted away from him and back to Messi. As there is little time for Ronaldo to leapfrog his nemesis in Europe, one thing is clear — Ronaldo is no longer the main man in club soccer's greatest competition… Messi is.

SEE ALSO: We analysed who the better big-game player is, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi — and the stats show the winner is clear

DON'T MISS: Ronaldo tried to make the Manchester United match 'The Cristiano Show,' but was ultimately upstaged by an unheralded 21-year-old

UP NEXT: RANKED: The 27 most dominant soccer players in the world right now

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• Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are no longer revered as the best players in world soccer, according to a glamorous awards ceremony in Paris.
• The Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric, who captained Croatia to the 2018 FIFA World Cup final, was awarded the prestigious Ballon d'Or title in France on Monday.
• Prior to Monday's ceremony, Messi and Ronaldo had enjoyed a 10-year stranglehold on the best men's player of the year trophy.
• Read all of Business Insider's coverage for the 2018-2019 soccer season right here.

Luka Modric has won the men’s Ballon d’Or award, the prestigious prize given to the best football in the world, beating five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo and World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann to the honour at a glamorous ceremony in Paris.

Kylian Mbappe won the inaugural Kopa Trophy for the best young player, while Lyon and Norway forward Ada Hegerberg won the first women’s Ballon d’Or, although there was controversy on stage when French DJ Martin Solveig inappropriately asked if the forward could "twerk."

Read more: Ada Hegerberg says the Ballon d'Or twerk controversy was not 'sexual harassment,' and she was just happy to win

Hegerberg, 23, scored 42 goals in only 25 club games last season as she led Lyon to the Champions League.

Modric proved a crucial part both of Real Madrid’s third successive Champions League triumph, beating Liverpool in the final 3-1, and as captain in Croatia’s impressive run to the World Cup final which earned him the tournament’s Golden Ball.

His talents as a midfielder have long been admired, with a beguiling touch and control of the ball and his ability to spot team-mates' runs which has made him a popular player to play alongside.

"It’s a unique feeling. I am happy, proud and honoured," Modric said. "I have sensational emotions at the moment that are really hard to describe in words. First of all, I would like to thank my team-mates and coaches at Real Madrid and all the people who work for Real Madrid, all my coaches at team-mates with the national team, all those who voted for me and of course, my family, my wife and kids.

"They are fulfilling me as a person and helping me in all aspects to be successful as a professional. As a kid, we all have dreams. My dream was to play for a big club, to win important trophies. I dreamed about it, but the Ballon d'Or was more than a childhood dream for me and it’s a real honour and a privilege to hold this trophy tonight.”

The 33-year-old's prize sees an end to the 10-year duopoly of Messi, who finished fifth overall in his lowest ranking since 2006, and Ronaldo, who came second. France and Atletico Madrid forward Griezmann finished third, with his France team-mate Mbappe fourth.

Mbappe has enjoyed another sensational year, with the 19-year-old integral to Paris Saint-Germain’s title triumph before scoring in the World Cup final as he earned the tournament’s best young player prize.

England captain and Tottenham striker Harry Kane finished 10th in the overall men’s list, behind fellow Premier League stars Kevin De Bruyne (ninth), Eden Hazard (eighth) and Mohamed Salah (sixth), who is the highest ranked African since Samuel Eto’o in 2009.

SEE ALSO: Ada Hegerberg says the Ballon d'Or twerk controversy was not 'sexual harassment,' and she was just happy to win

DON'T MISS: Presenter asked first female Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg to twerk after she received soccer's highest honor

UP NEXT: RANKED: The 27 most dominant soccer players in the world right now

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• Cristiano Ronaldo has urged Lionel Messi to leave FC Barcelona and join him in Italy's top division.
• The Juventus FC striker admitted that he does miss Messi, said "he is a great player," and that he would like him to "come to Italy."
• If Messi did leave, he could revive his iconic rivalry with Ronaldo.
• Read all of Business Insider's coverage for the 2018-19 European Soccer season here.

Cristiano Ronaldo has challenged Lionel Messi to leave FC Barcelona and join him in the Serie A so they can renew their iconic rivalry.

"I would like him to come to Italy,"Ronaldo told the Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in a revealing interview published on Monday.

Ronaldo and Messi are regarded as the best soccer players of the past decade. Previously, it had been easy to compare soccer's two great players as they both competed in La Liga. But Ronaldo left the Spanish division when he transferred to Juventus FC in a $131.5 million deal from former club Real Madrid CF in July.

Ronaldo is still creating headlines in Italy, though not as frequently as Messi, who is seemingly operating at a level that is far higher than anybody else in soccer right now.

Read more: 2 gorgeous goals, 1 telepathic assist, and another La Liga record: Lionel Messi toyed with Espanyol in thumping 4-0 win

Regardless, Ronaldo has admitted that he misses his old rival and even encouraged Messi to follow in his footsteps and leave La Liga. "Maybe I miss him a little," he said.

"I have played in England, Spain, Italy, Portugal, with the national team, while he has stayed in Spain. Maybe, he needs me more. For me, life is a challenge, I like it and I like to make it happy. I would like him to come to Italy one day. Do what I did, accept the challenge. However, if he is happy there, I respect that."

Ronaldo added: "He is a great player, a great guy, but here I don't miss anything. This is my new life and I am happy."

Read more: 2 moments of Messi magic guaranteed Barcelona victory, and proved he's finally dominating Ronaldo as the main man in Europe

Ronaldo endured a mini goal drought when he first played for his new club Juventus but he eventually found his scoring boots and has scored or created one goal for every 89 minutes he has played in the Serie A.

Messi, though, is far more effective at Barça as his 11 goals and 8 assists mean he has scored or created one goal for every 55 minutes he has played in La Liga.

That strike rate alone shows why it is tough to see Messi, Barcelona's favourite son, ever leaving the club he has made his home.

SEE ALSO: 2 gorgeous goals, 1 telepathic assist, and another La Liga record: Lionel Messi toyed with Espanyol in thumping 4-0 win

DON'T MISS: 2 moments of Messi magic guaranteed Barcelona victory, and proved he's finally dominating Ronaldo as the main man in Europe

UP NEXT: Ronaldo tried to make the Manchester United match 'The Cristiano Show,' but was ultimately upstaged by an unheralded 21-year-old

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• Juventus forward Paulo Dybala had a contender for goal of the season ruled out on Wednesday.
• Dybala struck the ball from 25 yards, rifling it into the top-left corner.
• His teammate Cristiano Ronaldo interfered from an offside position, meaning the goal was not valid.
• Juventus ended up losing 2-1 to the Swiss side in an upset of little consequence.
• The Italian side is already through to the playoffs after finishing top of its group.
• Read all of Business Insider's coverage of the 2018-19 European soccer season here.

Juventus forward Paulo Dybala may have had a few choice words for Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday after Dybala's 25-yard screamer was ruled out because his superstar teammate interfered from an offside position.

Juventus were down 2-1 against Switzerland's BSC Young Boys in their final Champions League group game.

Though the Italian club's progression to the playoffs was already secured, a defeat at the hands of the Swiss club would be an upset, to say the least.

Read more:Cristiano Ronaldo just challenged Lionel Messi to leave FC Barcelona and join him in Italy

In the second minute of injury time, the ball fell to Dybala, a mercurial striker, who lasered the ball from outside the box into the top-left corner.

As Dybala wheeled away in celebration, the referee blew his whistle, and the goal was ruled out.

Slow-motion replay footage revealed that Ronaldo — standing in an offside position — had attempted to flick the ball in with his head.

You can watch the footage below (note that the video is geoblocked for the US):

Though Ronaldo didn't appear to touch the ball, the Football Association says that an offside can be ruled if a player is "clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent" or "making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball."

People on Twitter were quick to admonish Ronaldo for his actions, which denied his teammate a superb, equalizing goal.

Dybala can find solace in the fact that Juventus' only goal of the match also came from him — a fine strike taken on the half-volley from outside the box.

Juventus still finished top of their group after Valencia CF bested Manchester United on Wednesday.

Juventus and the rest of the teams progressing to the first Champions League knockout round will find out their next opponents on Monday.

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• Juventus remained unbeaten through 18 matches with a 2-2 draw against Atalanta on Boxing Day.
• Cristiano Ronaldo did not start for the first time since joining Juve.
• Manager Massimiliano Allegri said his star player was available but wanted him to get some rest and it was thought that Ronaldo would not play.
• When Juventus fell behind, 2-1, in the second half and were down to 10 men, Ronaldo entered the match in the 65th minute.
• Ronaldo leveled the match in the 78th minute on a header with the second touch off a corner kick.
• Juventus now has 16 wins and two draws on the season.

Here is the goal, via ESPN+:

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• Business Insider has compiled the most followed Instagram accounts in 2018.
• It is dominated by reality-TV stars, musicians, and soccer players.
• Here are the top 50 most popular accounts.

In the world of Instagram, musicians, reality stars, and soccer players rule.

Business Insider has compiled the most followed people on Instagram for 2018, and well-known faces like Cristiano Ronaldo and Kim Kardashian top the list.

Up until this year, the singer and actress Selena Gomez had been the most followed person on Instagram, a title she held for the past two years running. But in 2018 Ronaldo nabbed the top spot.

Besides Ronaldo and Gomez, stars such as Dwayne Johnson and musicians including Ariana Grande are in the top 10.

Here are the 50 most followed people on Instagram in 2018:

SEE ALSO: Our 17 most-read tech stories of 2018

50. Gal Gadot

The "Wonder Woman" star, whose handle is @gal_gadot, has 27.1 million followers. 

49. Ed Sheeran

The singer-songwriter, who goes by @teddysphotos on Instagram, has 27.2 million followers.

48. Robert Downey Jr.

The "Ironman" and "Avengers" star, whose handle is @robertdowneyjr, has 27.3 million followers.

• Cristiano Ronaldo may secure one more career transfer once he calls it a day at Juventus FC.
• The 33-year-old left Real Madrid in a high-profile transfer last summer, joining Juve for a $129.3 million fee in July.
• He signed a four-year contract which means he is bound to the Italian club until 2022 but refused to rule out a return to his former club Sporting CP in Portugal.
• The news will surely pique the attention of clubs around the world, as he is also reportedly a long-term target for David Beckham's MLS franchise Inter Miami CF.
• Read all of Business Insider's coverage for the 2018-2019 soccer season right here.

Cristiano Ronaldo has hinted that he might not end his career at current club Juventus FC.

The veteran striker joined the Serie A giant in a stunning $129.3 million move last summer.

It took a while for him to find his goal-scoring boots and at one point he was even outscored by his 9-year-old son, but after 14 goals and five assists in 18 starts, the Portuguese star is now the most statistically-impressive player throughout Italy, according to Whoscored.com data.

Ronaldo is contractually-bound to Juventus until 2022 having signed a four-year deal last July, but he has already been asked about life after Juve and whether that will involve a return to Sporting CP in Portugal — his first professional club before he joined Manchester United in 2003.

"Will I return to Sporting? In football you never know," he reportedly said, according to Fox Sports.

The news will surely pique the interest of soccer clubs across the planet, as many would like to sign a player of Ronaldo's stature even if he was only available in 2022, at 37 years old.

After all, Ronaldo is reportedly a long-term target for David Beckham at the Englishman's soccer franchise Inter Miami CF, a team that will play in the MLS from 2020.

Regardless, he is committed to his current club for now. "Everyone in Turin welcomed me in a fantastic way," he said of his arrival at Juventus. "We’re all feeling very good. I don’t know when my career will end, but I'm fine and I want to keep going for many more years."

Read more: Cristiano Ronaldo just challenged Lionel Messi to leave FC Barcelona and join him in Italy

Ronaldo has a good chance of winning silverware in his debut season in Italy as Juventus are currently top of the Serie A table with 53 points from 19 games, nine points more than its closest rival Napoli.

SEE ALSO: Cristiano Ronaldo just challenged Lionel Messi to leave FC Barcelona and join him in Italy

DON'T MISS: Cristiano Ronaldo's goal drought at Juventus is so bad, his 9-year-old son is outscoring him

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• Cristiano Ronaldo has firmly denied accusations from a woman who says she is his ex-girlfriend that he was psychologically abusive.
• Jasmine Lennard, who has said she dated Ronaldo in 2008, said Tuesday that he once told her that if she dated anyone else or left her house, he'd have her kidnapped and her body "cut up and put in a bag and thrown in a river."
• Lennard said that she had been in regular contact with the Juventus FC striker and that she wanted to help Kathryn Mayorga, who last year accused Ronaldo of raping her in a Las Vegas penthouse in 2009.
• Ronaldo has denied all the allegations.

Cristiano Ronaldo has dismissed a woman's accusation that he is a "psychopath" and a liar, adding that he would be taking legal action.

Jasmine Lennard, 33, a model and former UK "Big Brother" contestant, has said she dated Ronaldo in 2008, when the striker played for the Premier League team Manchester United.

In a series of tweets that have since been deleted, she accused Ronaldo of being psychologically abusive when they were together a decade ago. According to Fox Sports and Marca, she said Ronaldo told her that if she dated anyone else or left her house, he'd have her kidnapped and her body "cut up and put in a bag and thrown in a river."

Representatives for Ronaldo sent a statement to Business Insider denying that the Portuguese athlete ever had a relationship with Lennard.

The statement said: "Mr Ronaldo has no specific recollection of meeting Ms Lennard 10 years ago or at any point. He has not had a relationship with her and he has not had any contact with her, whether in the last 18 months as Ms Lennard suggests, or otherwise.

"The voice notes posted by Ms Lennard on social media are not of Mr Ronaldo. Mr Ronaldo will take appropriate legal action in due course."

Lennard said Tuesday on Twitter that she had been in regular contact with the Juventus FC player over the past 18 months and that she had messages and recordings that would be "invaluable" to Kathryn Mayorga, who last year accused Ronaldo of raping her in a $1,000-a-night penthouse in Las Vegas in 2009. Fox Sports published screenshots of Lennard's tweets.

Read more: The mother of the 34-year-old accusing Cristiano Ronaldo of rape says her daughter would 'completely disintegrate' when she saw him on a billboard after the alleged attack

One of Lennard's tweets was directed at Ronaldo and said "Who the hell do you think you are."

Lennard insisted she had "proof of everything," adding, "He's a psychopath."

In two tweets, she said: "He legitimately thinks he's going to get away with it. Not now. I have had a relationship with him for a decade. We have been communicating pretty much on a daily basis for the last year and half and I have messages and recordings that'll be invaluable to Kathryn and her team in showing his true nature and character how unwell he is."

Read more: Cristiano Ronaldo has 'firmly' denied the rape allegations being made against him — and says he refuses to 'feed the media spectacle'

"No one has any idea what he is truly like," she said, according to Fox's screenshots. "If they had half a clue they'd be horrified. I'm not sitting back any longer and watching him lie in the brazen arrogant entirely insensitive way that he is whilst he employs teams of PR'S and lawyers."

According to the Irish Mirror, Ronaldo told the Portuguese newspaper Record last month that it hurt to see his family upset about Mayorga's allegation of rape but that they knew he would "never be able to do that." He added, "I was completely calm and very confident that soon everything will be clear."

SEE ALSO: The mother of the 34-year-old accusing Cristiano Ronaldo of rape says her daughter would 'completely disintegrate' when she saw him on a billboard after the alleged attack

READ MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo's lawyer says rape allegations are based on 'fabricated documents' that may have been sold to the media by a cyber criminal

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• Las Vegas police want a sample of Cristiano Ronaldo's DNA in an alleged rape case. Ronaldo denies the allegations.
• A 34-year-old woman filed a lawsuit last year alleging Ronaldo assaulted her at a $1,000-a-night penthouse in Las Vegas in 2009.
• She went to police the day after she said the alleged attack took place, and DNA other than her own was found on a dress. Authorities want to know whether Ronaldo's DNA matches that found on the dress.
• Ronaldo's lawyer responded by saying the DNA warrant is a "very standard request." The lawyer added that it would not be surprising to discover matching DNA because what occurred in 2009 was "consensual."

Cristiano Ronaldo's lawyer has said that the Las Vegas police warrant for the soccer player's DNA in an alleged rape case is a "very standard request." The Juventus FC player denies the allegations.

The Wall Street Journal reported that authorities issued the warrant to see if Ronaldo's DNA matches "that found on the dress of a woman who has accused him of rape."

Las Vegas police reopened the case when Kathryn Mayorga, 34, filed a lawsuit last year that claimed Ronaldo raped her at a $1,000-a-night penthouse.

Mayorga went to police the day after she alleged the attack took place, June 12, 2009; at the time she did not refer to Ronaldo by name but described him as an athlete and public figure.

The 2009 incident "never left" Mayorga, according to her mother, who added that she would "completely disintegrate" whenever she saw him on billboards in the years that followed.

Ronaldo reportedly paid Mayorga $375,000 to not say anything. He also denied the allegation last year, and said the encounter was consensual.

The Journal said the dress Mayorga wore that night in 2009 remains critical in the investigation. This is because a law-enforcement official said DNA other than Mayorga's was found on the dress. Las Vegas police want to know whether Ronaldo's DNA sample matches what was found on Mayorga's dress.

Ronaldo's lawyer has confirmed that authorities want his DNA and has said it is a "standard request."

Peter S. Christiansen, Ronaldo's lawyer, said: "Mr. Ronaldo has always maintained, as he does today, that what occurred in 2009 in Las Vegas was consensual in nature, so it is not surprising that DNA would be present, nor that the police would make this very standard request as part of their investigation."

The warrant has been served in Italy, where Ronaldo is a striker for the reigning Serie A champion Juventus FC.

Ronaldo "firmly" denied the allegations in a series of tweets in October.

"I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me,"he said. "Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in. Keen as I may be to clear my name, I refuse to feed the media spectacle created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense."

In a second tweet, he added: "My clear conscious will thereby allow me to await with tranquility the results of any and all investigations."

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• The most-liked post on Instagram is now a simple photo of an egg.
• The photo gained the top spot Monday, and now has more than 33 million likes, beating a record set by Kylie Jenner. 
• Here are the 20 most-liked photos on Instagram, featuring content from the Kardashian-Jenner family and from soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.

If you thought 2018 was an odd year, a simple egg was just crowned the champion of Instagram.

Yep, you heard right: a picture of an egg, posted from the account @world_record_egg on January 4, beat a record set by Kylie Jenner with 18 million likes. As of Monday afternoon, the egg had more than 33 million likes.

Read more:A picture of a humble egg just became the most-liked Instagram post ever

The egg picture is an anomaly among the most-liked Instagram posts, which are dominated by pictures of celebrities posing with their families, or making major life announcements to their millions of fans.

Here are the 20 most-liked Instagram photos of all time as of Janurary 2019:

20. 10.65 million — Kylie Jenner posing with her sister, Kendall Jenner, in October 2018.

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19. 10.72 million — Selena Gomez's post-op photo after getting a kidney transplant in September 2017.

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18. 10.88 million — Kylie Jenner with her boyfriend Travis Scott and their daughter, Stormi, in November 2018.

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• Cristiano Ronaldo just scored a winning header after a run that was timed so well, it could have been flagged for offside had he accelerated any sooner.
• Ronaldo's goal was the only one in Wednesday's game, as Juventus FC beat AC Milan 1-0 to lift the Supercoppa Italiana in Saudi Arabia.
• The victory yielded Ronaldo his first trophy as a Juventus player, but the odds are it won't be his last.
• Read all of Business Insider's soccer coverage right here.

Cristiano Ronaldo's 61st minute goal was enough to settle Wednesday's Supercoppa Italiana against AC Milan, winning the striker the first Italian trophy of his career.

The Italian Super Cup, a single-game tournament, pits the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia from the previous season against each other.

As Juventus won both tournaments, the 2018 Coppa Italia runner-up, Milan, stepped-in to complete this week's fixture at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The match itself was rather poor, void of any real moments aside from one — Ronaldo's. Midway through the second half the Portuguese athlete capitalized on Miralem Pjanić's lazered pass over the top of Milan's defence and into the six-yard box.

Ronaldo, hovering just inside the penalty box, timed his run to perfection as he evaded his man marker, leaped into the air, and powered a header into the goal — 1-0.

Read more: Cristiano Ronaldo hinted he may not even end his career at Juventus

Here's a breakdown of the goal:

Watch the goal here:

Or here…

Had Ronaldo accelerated a moment sooner, his run would no doubt have been flagged offside. But, alas, it wasn't, his goal was allowed, and it was the only goal of the game.

The victory yielded Ronaldo his first trophy as a Juventus player, but with the club contesting a Coppa Italia quarter-final later this month, and sitting comfortably atop the Serie A with a seven point lead, the chances are it won't be his last.

SEE ALSO: Cristiano Ronaldo denies claim from woman who says she is his ex-girlfriend that he's a psychopath and a liar

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• Cristiano Ronaldo accepted a $22 million fine and two-year suspended jail term over tax fraud.
• He left the court with a smile on his face and paused to sign autographs before leaving in a black van.
• Read all of Business Insider's coverage for the 2018-2019 European Soccer season right here.

Portugal international Cristiano Ronaldo was fined almost £17 million ($22 million) for tax fraud on Tuesday but will avoid serving a 23-month prison sentence after agreeing a deal.

Ronaldo, holding hands with his Spanish fiancee Georgina Rodriguez, came out of the court room smiling, pausing to sign autographs before leaving in a black van.

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The 33-year-old Juventus forward, who played for Real Madrid from 2009-18, agreed to settle the case by paying an €18.8 million fine and accepting a suspended jail sentence.

Under Spanish law, a first offender can serve anything less than a two-year sentence under probation and Ronaldo will not have to go to prison.

His court appearance lasted about 15 minutes as the five-time Ballon d'Or winner only needed to sign off on the previously settled agreement.

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• Italian soccer giant Juventus looks to sell €150 million of bonds ($169 million; £132 million) to cash in on success of star player Cristiano Ronaldo.
• Ronaldo signed for Juventus in summer 2018 for around $130 million, and has been a sporting and commercial success.
• He has scored 20 goals in 31 appearances, and Juventus' share price has close to doubled since his transfer.
• Other soccer teams, including Manchester United and Inter Milan, have raised money through bond issuances in recent years.

Italian soccer giant Juventus is looking to a novel new means of cashing in on its star asset, Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo, by issuing a multimillion euro bond to investors.

According to a report from Bloomberg which cites a person familiar with the matter, Italy's most successful team plans to sell €150 million of bonds ($169 million; £132 million)

Morgan Stanley and Italian lender UBI Banca will manage the sale, Bloomberg added, citing the same person.

Juventus' bond issuance follows in the footsteps of other soccer giants like Italian rival Inter Milan, and UK-based behemoth Manchester United. Inter sold around €300 million ($339 million; £263 million). of five-year dated debt in late 2017.

Read more:Cristiano Ronaldo scored an outrageous header after a perfectly timed run, and now has his first Italian trophy

Ronaldo is one of the most marketable assets in all of global sports. After a €90 million from Spain's Real Madrid to Turin-based Juventus in the summer of 2018, the club saw its share price more than double in around 10 weeks.

At the time, it climbed from €0.69 ($0.81) on July 3, when credible transfer rumors were first reported across Europe, to €1.57 ($1.84) by early September after a few weeks of the Serie A season.

The club's stock price has since moderated somewhat, but remains around 95% higher than in the days before Ronaldo's signing.

Other commercial successes related to Ronaldo's signing include increased ticket revenues for the club, and a huge rise in the number of replica jerseys sold bearing the player's name. According to reports, 520,000 shirts were sold in just 24 hours after his signing — approximately $62.4 million worth of trade.

Ronaldo has also been a major success on the field, scoring 20 goals and creating 10 in just 31 appearances so far this season.

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• Cristiano Ronaldo's dream of winning the Champions League in his debut Juventus season is in disarray.
• Juventus was completely humbled at Atletico Madrid in the first leg of its Round of 16 clash on Wednesday, as it was beaten 2-0 on the night.
• Ronaldo, who is normally devastating against Atletico, failed to score and the team has it all to do in the return leg in March.
• Nobody took the defeat as badly as Ronaldo, who stormed through the mixed zone after the match bragging about how he's been a champion before, while Atletico has won nothing.
• Read all of Business Insider's coverage for the 2018-2019 soccer season right here.

Juventus had one thing in mind when it spent $130 million on Cristiano Ronaldo last summer — win the UEFA Champions League.

As a five-time winner of the competition, Ronaldo will have wanted the same thing but that dream is now in disarray as Juventus got humbled 2-0 in the first leg of its Round of 16 Champions League clash at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

Ronaldo himself did not play poorly. According to Whoscored.com data, he was the best Juventus player on the pitch with a 7.4 grading thanks to a 95% pass completion rate, two key chances provided, and seven shots attempted on goal.

One of those shots could have resulted in a goal of the season screamer had it not been for a stunning, jaw-dropping save from the Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

Watch it right here:

That was in the eighth minute, when the game was precariously poised 0-0. Had it gone in, the night may well have been one for the Italian team to celebrate.

Read more: Cristiano Ronaldo smiled and signed autographs after accepting a $22 million fine and 2-year suspended jail term over tax fraud

However, Atletico had its own dream — and the center back pairing of Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez realized it as the Uruguayan defenders grabbed a goal each to secure a solid 2-0 win for the Spanish side.

Nobody reacted to the defeat quite like Ronaldo, who was booed, jeered, and whistled at by the partisan Atletico fans in the crowd. He responded by holding up his hand and gesturing with each finger as a reminder that he had won the Champions League five times.

Even after the final whistle, he reiterated the same point in front of the media in the mixed zone.

According to beIN SPORTS, Ronaldo rushed through the press area without stopping, but did manage to tell anyone who was listening that he had been a champion before. "I won five Champions Leagues and these guys zero," he said, making the same gesture as he had on the pitch, before disappearing.

Even in defeat, you can never count Ronaldo out

Even at 34 years old, Ronaldo remains a fierce competitor and an elite goalscorer.

This season alone, in his debut Juventus campaign, he has scored 21 goals and provided 10 assists in all competitions. That's a striking efficiency of a goal scored or created once for every 81 minutes he plays.

Against Atletico, he — along with the rest of the Juventus team — was rendered impotent against a side renowned for its defensive quality.

With a rigid defensive line and Oblak protecting Atletico's goal, the Madrid team has an ever-reliable rearguard. Oblak alone has been responsible for 23 clean sheets from 41 Champions League games.

But reputation means little to Ronaldo as, aside from Wednesday night, the Portuguese man has an exceptional goal-scoring record against them.

In 32 games now he has scored 22 times and provided a further eight assists. This means that regardless of the recent defeat, he — and by extension Juve — can never truly be counted out no matter how hard a task they have given themselves at restoring parity, or even winning, in the second leg of the fixture.

Juventus welcomes Atletico to Turin in Italy on March 12. The winner proceeds to the quarter-final.

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• There is a clear difference between Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar when it comes to one critical aspect of high-stakes soccer.
• While the Juventus FC striker thrives under pressure, it is a situation that buckles Neymar according to a research group.
• Neymar's decision-making is questionable as the Paris Saint-Germain forward relies on his "individual talent" when a pass to a teammate would have been a simpler, more effective option.
• Read all of Business Insider's coverage for the 2018-2019 soccer season right here.

An elite athlete who has clutch is able to remain calm during high-pressure moments in a high-stakes match.

This can prove to be the difference between a pass that yields an assist, or one that gets intercepted by an opponent. It can mean the difference between a shot that is fired into the goal, or one that flies over the bar and into the reaches of a fan in the crowd. It can be what separates the winners from the losers.

Novak Djokovic is the ultimate clutch player in tennis right now, Steph Curry is a fearless shooter when he has the ball in his hands, and Cristiano Ronaldo has an elite mentality when the ball is at his feet.

Read more: Cristiano Ronaldo's dream of winning the Champions League this season is in disarray, and he got really petty about it

But there is one soccer player who has questionable clutch according to a sports research group, and that athlete is Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar.

A study conducted by Belgian university KU Leuven researchers Jesse Davis and Pieter Robberechts, in collaboration with intelligence company SciSports, says Ronaldo is "immune" to the sort of pressure that Neymar crumbles under and that the PSG forward "chokes under stress."

Davis and Robberechts analyzed approximately 7,000 matches in seven competitions to determine how athletes in professional soccer perform in clutch situations, and will present their research in full at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston on March 1.

The KU Leuven graph below shows Cristiano Ronaldo is largely unfazed regardless of whether there's pressure or no pressure when it comes to decision-making or execution. Meanwhile, Neymar's decision-making is poor under pressure.

"Mental pressure has already been extensively studied in sports such as baseball and basketball, but in football this is uncharted territory,"Professor Davis of the Department of Computer Science said.

"That's why we have developed a model that uses machine learning to estimate how much mental pressure is experienced by the player in possession of the ball. The model analyzes how this player performs under pressure: which decision does he make, is the chosen action executed well, and how much impact does the chosen action have on the outcome of the match?"

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Neymar 'chokes under stress'

The research note adds that Ronaldo's "performances are constant." This is in stark contrast to Neymar who "seems to choke under stress. He makes poorer decisions when there's a lot of pressure."

Speaking exclusively to BI, Davis added: "Our research suggests that when under pressure, Neymar may fall back on his individual talent to make a play. For example, he takes more speculative shots or tries to take on a defender by dribbling, whereas passing to a teammate would be a better choice."

KU Leuven said the research is important because of the impact it can have within the soccer industry. The learnings would benefit coaches and decision-makers alike, for example, when determining whether to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on an athlete. A clutch player would likely be worth the money, but a player who buckles under the pressure like Neymar, who is linked with a big-money move to Real Madrid, may not be worth the investment.

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