The 5 greatest Ballon d'Or winners to have graced El Clasico | La Liga 2019-20

3. Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane became a hero at Real Madrid as a player and then a manager

It says a lot about the on-pitch greatness of current Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane that however well he does as a manager – and he’s already won the Champions League on 3 occasions – his accomplishments will likely always be overshadowed by the greatness he achieved as a player.

Until the emergence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, it was widely believed that the French playmaker was the only player from the modern era to be good enough to be considered on the same level as historical greats like Pele, Johan Cruyff and Diego Maradona. Essentially, Zidane had everything; he could find passes that other players couldn’t, he could score with either foot, and he was physically fast and powerful too.

Zizou’s reputation as the greatest player on the planet largely stemmed from his days with Juventus – where he won the Scudetto on 2 occasions – and also for his performances in the 1998 World Cup, as he helped France to a famous victory on home soil, scoring 2 of their 3 goals in the final against Brazil. It was that year, naturally, that saw him awarded the Ballon d’Or.

By the summer of 2001, though, after 5 seasons in Italy, Zidane felt that it was time for a new challenge – and so he made a world-record breaking £46.6m move to Real, a fee that would not be topped for almost a decade. Incredibly, the great Frenchman repaid that fee almost immediately – by scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final against Bayer Leverkusen during his first season at the club, a wonderful volley struck with his weaker left foot from the edge of the box.

Zizou went onto inspire Los Blancos to win the 2002-03 La Liga title, the same season that saw him named the FIFA World Player of the Year for the third time. And although he couldn’t help Real to win any more major trophies, he remained an icon at the Bernabeu until his retirement in 2006 following an incredible World Cup with France – and it came as no surprise to see him become Real’s new manager in January 2016, such was his love affair with the club.