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Ranking the five clubs to produce the most Ballon d'Or winners

The Ballon d’Or remains the greatest individual accolade in professional football, the honour handed to the player recognised as the world’s finest each year.

Lionel Messi won the prestigious award for a record sixth time last year, the Argentine having dominated the Ballon d’Or for more than a decade alongside great rival Cristiano Ronaldo, the pair’s duopoly only interrupted in recent years by the success of Luka Modric in 2018.

Several of football’s all-time greats have claimed the prize throughout its long and illustrious history, and we’ve decided to look back at the clubs to have provided the most winners of France Football’s Ballon d’Or.

Here are the five clubs to produce the most Ballon d’Or winners:

Bayern Munich – 5

The Ballon d’Or has been won on five occasions by players representing Bayern Munich, though perhaps surprisingly no player from the German giants has claimed the prize in nearly four decades.

Gerd Muller was the first player to bring the Ballon d’Or to Munich after a phenomenal goalscoring year in 1970, the forward hitting 42 goals in all competitions to also win the European Golden Shoe.

Franz Beckenbauer claimed Bayern’s second accolade two years later – finishing ahead of Muller and fellow German Günter Netzer in the voting – before the defender claimed a second Ballon d’Or in 1976 after helping the Bavarian’s to a third consecutive European Cup.

Bayern’s tally of Ballon d’Or awards reached five after successive wins by current chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the forward twice finishing as the Bundesliga’s top scorer as Bayern secured back-to-back league titles in 1980 and 1981.

Juventus – 8 

The most successful club in Italian football history and amongst the leading sides in European football, Juventus have played host to some of the game’s greats.

The Ballon d’Or has been won by player’s representing the Turin side on eight occasions, with their six different winners the joint-second most of any club.

Omar Sivori won the club’s first accolade after helping the Bianconeri to a domestic double in 1960, before Paulo Rossi was named as the continent’s finest player after firing Italy to World Cup glory in 1982.

Juventus made it four successive Ballon d’Or awards throughout the eighties, as Michel Platini became the first player in history to win three consecutive titles in the years following Rossi’s triumph.

The club’s tally was further boosted by Ballon d’Or awards for Roberto Baggio (1993) and Zinedine Zidane (1998), with the club’s most recent triumph being Pavel Nedved’s recognition in 2003.

Read – Teams that should have won the Champions League: Late 90’s Juventus

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AC Milan – 8

AC Milan sit level with their Italian rivals Juventus on eight Ballon d’Or wins, with six different players having won the prestigious honour in the colours of the Rossoneri.

The club’s first success came via Gianni Rivera after the forward helped the club to European Cup success in 1969, before Ruud Gullit ended a near two decade wait to claim the prize for Milan in 1987.

Gullit’s win sparked a period of dominance for a Milan side regarded as one of the most iconic in football history, Marco van Basten following his compatriot’s success with back-to-back wins in 1988 and 1989 – both times incredibly seeing Milan players finish first, second and third in the voting.

Van Basten added the third Ballon d’Or of his career three years later, before George Weah became the first non-European winner of the accolade in 1995.

The club’s most recent successes came in 2004 and 2007, with Andriy Shevchenko and Kaka claiming the honour respectively.

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Real Madrid – 11

The most successful club in the history of European football, Real Madrid unsurprisingly feature highly on this list and the club’s success began in the early years of the Ballon d’Or, winning three of the first four editions as the Spanish giants dominated the newly-formed European Cup.

Alfredo Di Stefano won the award twice in 1957 and 1959, either side of a victory for teammate Raymond Kopa. The Madrid side would have to wait over four decades for their next Ballon d’Or, however, before winning the prize eight times since the turn of the millennium.

Luis Figo was named as European Footballer of the Year in 2000, before Ronaldo claimed the honour two years later following his exploits in helping Brazil to World Cup success.

World Cup performances also contributed towards Fabio Cannavaro (2006) and Luka Modric (2018) winning the Ballon d’Or in the colours of Los Blancos, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s four wins during his glittering career at the Bernbeau taking the capital club’s tally to 11 titles.

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Barcelona – 12

The most successful club in the history of the Ballon d’Or is Barcelona, with Lionel Messi’s record haul of six honours accounting for half of the club’s entire total.

Luis Suarez was the first Barcelona player to be crowned as the winner of the Ballon d’Or in 1960, before Johan Cruyff secured back-to-back accolades in 1973 and 1974 after moving to the Camp Nou from Ajax.

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Two successes followed in the nineties as Hristo Stoichkov and Rivaldo brought the Ballon d’Or to Catalonia, with Ronaldinho the club’s most recent winner prior to the dominant era of the aforementioned Messi, the Brazilian claiming the title as world football’s finest in 2005.

Messi’s 2010 victory also saw Barcelona become just the second club – after AC Milan in 1988 and 1989 – to have players finish first, second and third in the final vote, Andres Iniesta and Xavi finishing behind their iconic teammate.

Read – Five of the best perfect hat tricks in Premier League history

Read Also – Picking the best XI from players to have won the Ballon d’Or

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