Ballon d'Or: Greatest XI to have never won the award

Modified Nov 25, 2018 21:27 GMT

Midfield playmaker: Dennis Bergkamp

Arsenal legend Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp remains one of the best playmakers in football history.

Bergkamp shone when he moved to Premier League club Arsenal in 1995, establishing himself as a legend at the club, winning three Premier League titles and four FA Cup trophies. One of his winning Premier League campaigns included Arsenal's Invincibles season, where the club went an entire season unbeaten.

Internationally, Bergkamp surpassed Faas Wilkes's record to become the Netherland's top goalscorer of all time in 1998 but the record was later beaten by Patrick Kluivert, Robin van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

Bergkamp came close to winning the Ballon d'Or in 1992 and 1993, finishing third and second respectively.

Striker: Raul

Real Madrid legend Raul still remains one of the most important players in the history of the Los Blancos club.

The Spaniard spent sixteen years at the Bernabeu, winning six La Liga titles, three UEFA Champions League titles, four Supercopa de España titles, one UEFA Super Cup and two Intercontinental Cups with the side.

Raul was also the highest scorer in Champions League history with 71 goals until Cristiano Ronaldo surpassed the record.

The striker enjoyed immense success with Real Madrid before moving to Schalke, Al Sadd and New York Cosmos where he retired in 2015.

The only time the Spaniard came close to winning the Ballon d'Or was in 2001 when he finished second to Michael Owen.

Striker: Ferenc Puskas

Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas only played for two clubs in his career - Budapest Honvéd[1] (from 1943 to 1955) and Real Madrid (from 1958 to 66).

During his time at the Los Blancos side, he formed a dangerous partnership with Alfredo Di Stefano to become one of the best attacking duos in football.

Puskas won five consecutive La Liga titles and three European Cups with Real.

Internationally, the talisman netted 84 goals in 85 games, winning the 1952 Olympics with a 32-game unbeaten run.

The Real Madrid legend came closest to winning the Ballon d’Or in 1960 when he was ranked second.