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Winning the Ballon d'Or is a massive task even if you produce strong performances, a thought which Robert Lewandowski will definitely agree to. Given the tight competition for the prestigious award, even the best of players fail to win it.
Sometimes it has so happened that team-mates are pitted against each other in the race for the Ballon d'Or award. Undoubtedly, it is a healthy competition to have in a team.
Ballon d'Or winners have been team-mates before
In the history of Ballon d'Or, there have been instances where teammates have ended up as the winner and runner-up in the competition.
George Best & Sir Bobby Charlton, Franz Beckenbauer & Gerd Muller, Karl Heinz-Rummenigee & Paul Breitner, Marco van Basten & Ruud Gullit, Van Basten & Franco Baresi are some names.
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In this century, Ronaldo & Roberto Carlos (2002), Lionel Messi & Iniesta (2011), played for the same team while fighting to win the Ballon d'Or.
While such a scenario is possible, it is also true that individual Ballon d'Or winners would play together at some point in their career.
In the 21st century, there have been five Ballon d'Or winning duos who have been at the same club, not necessarily winning the award with the same club. Here, we take a look at five such duos:
#5 Pavel Nedved & Fabio Cannavarro (Juventus)
Both Fabio Cannavaro and Pavel Nedved were not forward players and given the trend, it was impressive how they won the Ballon d'Or individually. Cannavaro did it in 2006 while Nedved did it in 2003.
Cannavaro joined Juventus in 2004 after spells with Napoli, Parma and Inter Milan. The Italian centre-back, despite not being the tallest, was an important and reliable figure at the back. Nedved was with the Old Lady since 2001 as the attacking midfielder was an integral part of the Serie A side.
Both Cannavaro and Nedved played together for two seasons and won the league title twice. However, due to the Calciopoli incident, Juventus were stripped off those titles and relegated to Serie B. Following this, Cannavaro left Turin to play for Real Madrid.
#4 Kaka & Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan)
The pairing of Andriy Shevchenko and Kaka was very lethal in attack for AC Milan. It played an instrumental role in bringing success to the club in the first decade of the 21st century.
With his clinical finishing and technical abilities, Shevchenko was a constant threat in front of goal. He was with Milan for seven seasons and won the Ballon d'Or in 2004.
Kaka joined the club four years later than the Ukrainian and stayed for six seasons. He won the Ballon d'Or in 2007, beating the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Both Kaka and Shevchenko had good chemistry on the pitch. They played for almost three seasons together before the latter joined Chelsea in 2006.
#3 Ronaldo Nazario & Figo (Real Madrid)
Winning the Ballon d'Or more than once is a feat achieved by only 10 players to date and Ronaldo Nazario is one of them. The Brazilian was a monster in front of goal with his mind-boggling dribbling and superb goal-scoring abilities.
He played for a number of top European clubs including Real Madrid. With a team of Galacticos, Los Blancos have been a real force since the start of the 21st century. Luis Figo was also part of that famous era as he played together with Ronaldo for almost three seasons.
The Portuguese won his Ballon d'Or in 2000 before Ronaldo joined Real Madrid. The Brazilian, who won his first Ballon d'Or in 1997 with Inter, added another to his trophy cabinet with Real Madrid in 2002.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo & Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
It was a revolutionary period for Real Madrid in the last decade when they imposed their authority in Europe. The Spanish giants won the UEFA Champions League four times in the last decade, including thrice in a row.
Most of the success was instigated by the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. The club has achieved a lot of success since then. The Portuguese has always been a serial winner and it was no different at Real Madrid. It only got better with the signing of Luka Modric in 2012.
With the Croatian's sharp and dominant play in midfield, it was only going to help Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid's cause. The Portuguese has won the Ballon d'Or five times, four of which came while playing for Real Madrid alongside Modric. The former Spurs midfielder won the Ballon d'Or in 2018, becoming the first winner other than Ronaldo and Lionel Messi since Kaka did so in 2007.
#1 Lionel Messi & Ronaldinho (Barcelona)
Ronaldinho was one of the first players to identify the crazy potential of the young Lionel Messi when he came through the ranks at Barcelona. He befriended the young Argentine and helped him out whenever possible.
The Brazilian forward was one of the masters in dribbling and contributed significantly at the Catalan club for five seasons. Ronaldinho was the one who assisted Lionel Messi for his very first senior goal.
He won the Ballon d'Or in 2005 with Barcelona before leaving in 2008 for AC Milan and passing on his blessings to the Argentine superstar.
As it is well-known, Lionel Messi has won the most number of Ballon d'Or awards, with seven to his name. He would surely have learned a lot while playing with Ronaldinho and would be hoping to pass on the same level of guidance and knowledge to his young team-mates.
