Fans of Real Madrid have experienced sheer joy this week after their superstar forward Cristiano Ronaldo was finally honoured by FIFA and France Football by being named as the winner of the Ballon d’Or 2013. There was though another reason for Los Blancos fans to be excited – for every time a Madrid player has won the prestigious prize, the team has gone on to win a trophy that season.
The trend has happened on all six occasions a Real Madrid player has won the Ballon d’Or. The peculiar phenomenon began in 1957 when legendary striker Alfredo di Stefano picked up the Ballon d’Or and months later Los Blancos lifted the European Cup and La Liga title.
He won the award again two years later, in the 1959/60 season at the end of that campaign the team won the European Cup again. Sandwiched between di Stefano’s successes was another Madridista, Raymond Kopa, who was voted as the best player on the planet in 1958. Similar to di Stefano, months after the award he lifted the European Cup with his team.
We had to wait until 2000 before another Real Madrid player lifted the Ballon d’Or again. This time it was the turn of Luis Figo. Like di Stefano and Kopa, Figo also experienced joy with his team, winning the league with Madrid.
The same thing happened with Ronaldo, who was named as the best player in the world for 2002. In June 2003, Madrid won the title. Finally it was the turn of Fabio Cannavaro. The Italian legend was named as the winner of the Ballon d’Orr for 2006 and Los Merengues went on to win the 2006/07 La Liga title, ending a period of four years without a trophy.
<Betis, the other side of the coin
There are some who won’t have been pleased to see Ronaldo win the award on Monday though, and they include those who support Real Betis, Madrid’s next opponent in the league. It’s not because Real Betis or their fans have any particular dislike of Ronaldo himself, rather they’ve been relegated from La Primera every time a Portuguese player wins the Ballon d’Or.
When Eusebio picked up the prize in 1966, the Sevillanos went down shortly afterwards. When Ronaldo won the award for his form in 2008 at Manchester United, Betis struggled for form an were relegated in 2009.
