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#4 Alfredo di Stefano (1957, 1959)
Real Madrid is the most successful football club on the European continent and one of the most successful in history, but it can be argued that they would not have been the club they are today if not for Alfredo di Stefano's legendary displays for Los Blancos.
After starring in his native South America with River Plate and Milloniarios, Alfredo di Stefano was the subject of bids from both Barcelona and Real Madrid, with the latter winning his signature after the interference of the Spanish dictator General Franco.
The intricacy of his transfer to Real Madrid helped stoke the flames of the bitter rivalry between both clubs which was only intensified when the Catalans saw how integral he was to the early success enjoyed by the capital club.
Real Madrid made history by winning each of the first five editions of the newly formed European Cup and Alfredo di Stefano played no small part in each of the victories.
The late Buenos Aires native scored in each of those five finals, with his hat-trick in the 7-3 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1960 final considered as his best performance in a Real Madrid shirt.
Di Stefano played alongside other Real Madrid icons like Ferenk Puskas, Francisco Gento and Raymond Kopa, but was the standout player and was universally acclaimed.
He was described glowingly as a complete player by his contemporaries including Eusebio and Pele, while also drawing praise for his goalscoring ability as well as all-round ability.
Alfredo di Stefano ended his Real Madrid career with 308 goals from 396 matches and this was a record at the club until Raul and later Cristiano Ronaldo surpassed it. He also held the previous record for most goals in European Cup history with 49 until Raul against surpassed him in 2005.
Incredibly, he represented three different countries in his career; Argentina, Colombia, and Spain (as FIFA eligibility rules back then were more flexible), but curiously never played at a World Cup.
For his efforts in helping Real Madrid to the 1957 and 1959 European Cups, Di Stefano was named the Ballon d'Or winner, also, finishing as the runner-up finish in the first edition of the awards.
In 1989, 'the blonde arrow' achieved the unique distinction of winning the Super Ballon d'Or and to date, he is the only man to have been honored with this special award.
