5 Ballon d'Or winners who never won the Champions League
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have dominated the Ballon d’Or competition in recent times with either one of them finishing on top since 2008. The duo has won almost every club competition with multiple wins in Europe’s premier club competition, the Champions League.However, in the past there have been some truly amazing players who have not won the Champions League. These players have been crowned as Ballon d'Or winners but somehow or the other, the Champions League prize has eluded them.We take a look at 5 Ballon d'Or winners who have never won the Champions League
#5 Michael Owen - Ballon d\'Or winner (2001)
Michael Owen was one of the best English footballers of his generation. Bursting onto the scene at the tender age of 17 for Liverpool, Owen went on to capture the imagination of the Anfield faithful by putting in some stunning performances.
Playing at his peak in the early 2000s, Michael Owen used to terrorise defences and singlehandedly win games for Liverpool. In his prime, Owen was highly regarded for his great pace, opportunism, and agility, as well as his technical ability and his eye for goal, which enabled him to be considered as one of the greatest English and Premier League strikers of his generation.
Owen faced many injuries throughout his career, which later affected his pace, fitness, mobility, and the overall consistency of his performances.
Michael Owen played for huge clubs such as Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United and came closest to winning the Champions League with Manchester United in the 2011 final where Manchester United lost to Barcelona.
Also, as soon as Owen left his boyhood club Liverpool to join Real Madrid in 2004, Liverpool pulled off one of the most remarkable Champions League triumphs ever, and Owen admitted that he still regrets to this day that he was not part of that historic Liverpool side.