Top 5 clubs with the maximum Ballon d'Or wins

3. Juventus (8 wins)

A Juventus player first broke into the top 3 of the Ballon d’Or in 1959, when Welshman John Charles finished 3rd with 24 points. 2 years later, Omar Sivori won the Ballon d’Or with 46 points and became the first Juventus player to win the award. Paulo Rossi took the world by storm in 1982 and became the second Juventus player to win the Ballon d’Or. It began an era of dominance of the Old Lady and for the next 3 years Michel Platini won the award in a row and became a household name. It was the first time that a player had won the award for 3 consecutive years, a record that was broken almost 26 years later by Lionel Messi.

Juventus players managed just one appearance in the top 3 for the next 7 years, before Roberto Baggio put Juventus back on top, after winning the award in 1993 with 142 points. The Italian finished second the following year too. In 1997, a young Zinedine Zidane ensured that Juventus were back among the top 3, finishing 3rd with 63 points. The following year, the Frenchman won the award with 244 points, the highest points tally achieved at that time. Zidane also finished second in 2000.

The Old Lady had been among the top contributors to the Ballon d’Or award at the turn of the century and reinstated their position when Pavel Nedved won the award in 2003, picking up 190 points to finish ahead of Thierry Henry and Paolo Maldini. That would be the last time a Juventus player won the award.

6 players from the Serie A side have won the Ballon d’Or 8 times in total to date. Will a 7th player be added this year? Only time will tell.