Among the 21 Ballon d’Or winners since 2005, who is the most special one? Looking at his professional resume, he is the only one who has no experience of playing for Real Madrid or Barcelona.

Let’s first talk about why we start from 2005. In fact, 2000 was already a special year. The joining of Figo made the structure of Real Madrid Galaxy Battleship take shape. It was from this time on that the competitiveness of La Liga began to rise. At that time, Barcelona was at a trough, and their real recovery began with the rise of Meng Er, headed by Ronaldinho. In 2005, Barcelona won the La Liga championship and Ronaldinho won the Ballon d'Or. In the following years, Real Madrid and Barcelona became a wealthy club that top stars rushed to join, and La Liga became increasingly competitive. And this trend has continued to this day and has never stopped.

Give two examples. Lewandowski took everything he should get at Bayern and broke all the records that should be broken, but he was still willing to go from Bayern to Barcelona, ​​even if Barcelona was at a low ebb when he went. It's as if his career is incomplete if he doesn't have something to do with Barcelona. In the 22-23 season, Manchester City won the Triple Crown and enjoyed great success. But their captain Gundogan, regardless of his status as a meritorious veteran, would rather go to Barcelona. Obviously, this is to put aside the Triple Crown status to go to a giant club that is in the trough, and to dig deeper. This is Barcelona's football influence attracting superstars to join, regardless of whether the competitiveness is online. This is just Barcelona. When it comes to Real Madrid specifically, there are even more examples. I won’t say it one by one. In fact, it is very clear if you look at the career resumes of previous Golden Globe winners since 2005. Some people have relatively meager professional resumes and have only played for two or three teams; some people have a bit of a prodigal temperament and have played for as many as a dozen teams. But in their career resumes, there is either Barcelona or Real Madrid. Before 2005, there was a more extreme case, Da Luo. Ronaldo has played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid. As for which team they won the Ballon d'Or, in today's topic, it actually doesn't matter. If he were to win the award at Real Madrid or Barcelona, ​​it would be a matter of course. If he won awards with other teams before going to Barcelona or Real Madrid, it means that after becoming famous, he still cares about the status of Real Madrid and Barcelona. As a European Footballer, he is still proud to go to Real Madrid and Barcelona. If after leaving Real Madrid or Barcelona, ​​he goes to another team to win the Ballon d'Or, it means that his potential has long been discovered by Real Madrid and Barcelona. He is a superstar who can achieve dominance, but he is a bit late. Dembele is the most classic example of winning awards after leaving Barcelona. Why did Barcelona want him back then? Wasn't it because he was attracted by his potential? Dembele, who was still a teenager at the time, did not hesitate to fall out with Dortmund in order to go to Barcelona.

As for the example of going to Real Madrid or Barcelona after winning the award, the most classic one is of course Cristiano Ronaldo. Cristiano Ronaldo was already the European Footballer of the Year at Manchester United, and the fact that he won several awards at Real Madrid was just the icing on the cake. There are even more winners at Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​so I won’t mention them one by one. In this way, the answer is obvious-the most special one among the 21st Golden Globe Award winners is the 2024 winner Rodri. Rodri became famous at Atletico Madrid and later grew into a world-famous midfielder at Manchester City. Looking at his career resume, there is neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona. Of course, there are variables. After all, Rodri is not yet 30 years old, and his career is only in the middle. In the future, we do not rule out the possibility of him going to Real Madrid or Barcelona. To be honest, with Real Madrid's current midfield control, they really need a Rodri. Kroos and Modric left the Bernabeu one after another, and Real Madrid's midfield is in urgent need of someone to take care of it. If this becomes true in the next few years, this topic will be automatically dropped. Real Madrid and Barcelona will continue to be deeply tied to the Ballon d'Or.