10 great players who have never won the Champions League

#4 Michael Ballack

Ballack regularly came close to winning Europe's biggest prize

However great a player Ballack was, there were a lot of nearly moments in his career. The German is regarded as one of the finest midfielders of his generation, and this is something shown by his goalscoring record at international level, 42 goals in 98 games, impressive numbers for a midfielder. He was also named UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year in 2002, after his third and final season with Bayer Leverkusen.

He won four league titles in his career, three in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, and once in the Premier League with Chelsea. When it came to the Champions League though, it was a story of missing out. He was a runner-up in the 2001/02 season with Bayer Leverkusen, as they were beaten by Real Madrid, with Zinedine Zidane scoring that famous volley.

In 2008, he was part of the Chelsea side beaten by Manchester United in the final on penalties. He came close again a year later, as the Blues were knocked out in the semi-finals by Barcelona in controversial style, with Ballack one of many players furious with the referee’s decision to not award Chelsea a penalty.