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Cristiano Ronaldo backed up his silverware-laden 2016 by defending his Champions League, Club World Cup and Ballon d'Or titles in 2017, and added a La Liga crown to the mix as well. With his great nemesis soaking up all the glory, there was less hardware for Lionel Messi, but he single-handedly led Argentina to the World Cup in dramatic fashion. Harry Kane cemented himself as perhaps the Premier League's best goal scorer, while Mohamed Salah looks set to fight for that title following his summer arrival at Liverpool. Neymar, meanwhile, became the most expensive footballer of all time after joining Paris Saint-Germain in a €222 million deal, and has promptly set fire to Ligue 1.

Real Madrid became the first club in Champions League history to win back-to-back titles in 2017, and they added La Liga, the UEFA Super Cup, thr Spanish Super Cup and the Club World Cup for good measure. Juventus, Monaco and Chelsea all won their share of domestic silverware, while Manchester City have set an English top-flight record with 16 successive league wins and have built a seemingly unassailable lead atop the table.

Leading Los Blancos to a banner 2017 was Zinedine Zidane, but colleagues Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri led Chelsea and Juventus respectively to domestic doubles. Leonardo Jardim guided Monaco to an improbable Ligue 1 title upset over PSG, while Pep Guardiola has successfully instilled his methods at Man City as they saunter to what looks to be an inevitable Premier League crown in 2018.

Real Madrid's historic Champions League defence was one of the most memorable moments of modern football, let alone 2017, but the contenders in this category are just as compelling. Neymar's world-record move to PSG dominated headlines throughout the summer transfer window. Barcelona's fightback vs. PSG, overturning a 4-0 first-leg deficit to win 6-5 on aggregate and move on to the Champions League quarterfinals, was the largest comeback in the competition's history. Mere months after a plane crash claimed the lives of 19 players and dozens more staffers, Chapecoense returned to the pitch in an emotional match against Palmeiras. And with Barcelona and Real Madrid looking set for a 2-2 draw at the Bernabeu in April, Lionel Messi scored a stoppage-time winner to snatch the spoils for the Catalan club.

In a World Cup qualifying cycle that could only charitably be described as disappointing, the U.S., Italy, the Netherlands and Chile all missed out on next summer's tournament. After longtime owner Silvio Berlusconi sold a majority share in AC Milan, the club went on a summer spending spree that turned heads across Europe -- yet the Rossoneri sit decidedly in midtable, and well short of a Champions League place. After storming out of the blocks and building a sizeable lead atop the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund have fallen back to earth and now Bayern Munich by double-digit points. After Chelsea strode to the Premier League title by seven points, a title fight looks even less likely this term as Manchester City have assembled an 11-point lead. And just nine months after winning a historic Premier League crown, Leicester City sacked Claudio Ranieri.

Monaco took France by surprise, beating giants PSG to an improbable Ligue 1 title. The French were in for another surprise when Neymar joined PSG in a world-record deal over the summer. RB Leipzig ended their debut season in the Bundesliga by finishing second and qualifying for the Champions League. The U.S. capitulated in World Cup qualifying, looking on as Panama and Honduras joined Mexico and Costa Rica in escaping CONCACAF's Hexagonal. And Leonardo Bonucci left serial title winners Juventus for AC Milan in the summer.

Kylian Mbappe stormed onto the scene in 2017, winning Ligue 1 with Monaco and parlaying his success into a €180 million move to PSG -- all before his 19th birthday. Christian Pulisic emerged as one of the brightest young talents in the Bundesliga and very nearly carried the U.S. on his back to the World Cup at just 19. Gabriel Jesus arrived at Manchester City in January as a 19-year-old and promptly gave Sergio Aguero significant competition for the No. 9 role at the Etihad. Marco Asensio has scored wonder goal after wonder goal after becoming a regular fixture in the Real Madrid squad. And 21-year-old Leroy Sane has established himself as Man City's most dangerous wide man.

After a tough start to life at Manchester City, Raheem Sterling has blossomed under Pep Guardiola, and is presently the Premier League's third leading scorer. With his Manchester United days behind him, it seemed the best of Wayne Rooney had passed, but the 32-year-old has scored double-digit goals in the Premier League for the first time since 2014-15. He had torrid spells at Juventus and West Ham, but Simone Zaza has rediscovered his goalscoring touch at Valencia, scoring 10 times in 14 appearances this season. Clint Dempsey missed Seattle's run to MLS Cup in 2016 with an irregular heartbeat, but the U.S. international returned in 2017 to score 12 goals in the Sounders' quest to repeat. And while Paulinho exited Tottenham a shell of his former self, the Brazilian joined Barcelona from the Chinese Super League in the summer, and has duly emerged as a consistent goal threat from midfield.

Happening on New Year's Day, it just barely makes our 2017 list, but was there a better goal this year than Olivier Giroud's scorpion kick against Palace? Mario Mandzukic showed off his quality on the grandest stage with a sensational volley in the Champions League final vs. Real Madrid. Poor Palace, on this list for the wrong reasons twice, after Andy Carroll scored a stunning bicycle kick at the London Stadium. Wayne Rooney evoked memories of David Beckham, scoring from halfway against West Ham. And Oscarine Masuluke scored a goal that was as beautiful as it was improbable, with the goalkeeper striking an absurd overhead kick in stoppage time to snatch a draw vs. Orlando Pirates.