Ballon d'Or: Ranking the top 5 midfielders to have won the award

#2 Michel Platini (1983,1984,1985)

Platini won three consecutive Ballon d'Ors

A decade before Zinedine Zidane made waves at Juventus, his compatriot had starred for the Bianconerri and took the club to new heights during his stay in Italy.

Michel Platini was an attacking midfielder of extreme proportions during his heyday and with him in the team, Juventus conquered all and sundry and were undoubtedly the best club in the world.

Having boosted his stock in his native France with Nancy and St-Ettiene, Platini transferred to Turin in 1982 and went on to achieve god-like status with the Italian giants, winning numerous titles with the club, including the Serie A, European Cup, Coppa Italia, and European Cup Winners Cup.

Despite playing as a midfielder, Platini was incredibly adept in the art of goalscoring and finished as the top scorer in the Italian Serie A in three consecutive seasons which is no mean feat, considering that some legendary players like Paolo Rossi, Zico, Diego Maradona, and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge all plied their trade in Italy at this point.

On the international scene, Platini also captained his nation to glory at the European Championship on home soil in 1984 and followed that up with a third-place finish at the World Cup two years later.

For his efforts with Juventus and France, Platini became the first player to win the Ballon d'Or in three consecutive years and this would have been an everlasting record before a certain Lionel Messi came around.

Though his career lasted for just 15 years, retiring at the age of 32, Michel Platini made enough of an impact to be considered among the greatest of all time.

He ventured into football administration upon retirement and was appointed president of UEFA, but had his reputation tarnished when he was indicted in the corruption charges that rocked FIFA in 2015.