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#2 Either a midfielder or a non-Real-Barca
Breaking the sequence of this feature, the other reason why Messi or Ronaldo not winning is good is that it also breaks the norm. For the last 11 years – including Kaka’s win – either a forward or a Madrid-Barca player had won the award.
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Kaka might be termed as a midfielder but he was always more of a second forward and less of a conventional midfielder. In fact, it has been a very long time since a conventional midfielder won the award.
If Luka Modric wins the Ballon d’Or, it could be argued that he would be the first conventional midfielder since Zidane to win the honour. If he doesn’t and Griezmann or Mbappe wins it, then it would break the Real Madrid-Barcelona streak of 9 years as Cristiano Ronaldo, while playing for Manchester United in 2008, was the last non-Madrid-Barca star to win the Ballon d’Or.
