Without Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid did not have a Ballon d’Or winner for the first time since entering the tournament in the 21st century. 

In the past 18 years, Real Madrid had seven Golden Ball owners – Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo Nazario, Michael Owen, Fabio Cannavaro, Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Early in the 2000-2006 Galacticos era, Figo was the first superstar signed by club at 61 million euros. He arrived in Madrid in the summer of 2000 and won that year’s Ballon d’Or. Then, the 1998 winner Zidane came to club in 2001, and that year’s winner Owen joined RM in 2004.

In 2002, Ronaldo Nazario went to Madrid and won the Ballon d’Or awards in 1997 and 1999, and earned another one for that year with RM.

Then, 2006-2009 was a period for current CSL team Guangzhou Evergrande’s manager Cannavaro, who won the Ballon d’Or the same year he joined Real Madrid in 2006.

Kaka achieved his Golden Ball dream with AC Milan in 2007, and went to Madrid following Cannavaro’s returning to Italian football in 2009. That same year, Cristiano Ronaldo signed with RM from Manchester United after winning the Ballon d’Or one year before in 2008.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo occupied this trophy taking turns between 2008-2017. And with the unsatisfying performance from both of them in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, this year's Ballon d’Or winner may go to other player for first time in the last decade. In the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era, Luka Modric is supposed to be the backbone for Los Blancos, as the Croatia national team came in second in this year's World Cup.