The thirtieth winner of the "Golden Ball" - Michel Platini

Thirtiesthe winner of the "Golden Ball" - Michel Platini   

A record third consecutive recognition for the French player

Michel Platini was a true football phenomenon in the first half of the 1980s. The Frenchman performs at an incredible individual level and recognition for this is not late. After winning the Ballon d'Or in 1983 and 1984, he not only equaled Johan Cruyff's record of three European Footballer of the Year awards, but also did so for the third consecutive time, triumphing in the poll and 1985s. Its success again seems extremely convincing, although the difference with the second is not as great as in the previous editions.

However, on Christmas Eve 1985, it became clear that Platini had collected 127 points out of the maximum 130 awarded by 26 journalists representing the countries that are members of the European football headquarters - UEFA. Twenty-three of them think that the French attacking footballer should win the award again, while three leave him in second place. This is yet another recognition for Michel Platini, who, in his third Ballon d'Or, stole almost all the first places and continues to have no different opinions of the voters from the first and second positions. The Frenchman is only one point shy of his 128 in 1984, but that means next to nothing. Especially when we talk about his achievements, both individually and at the team level with the Italian Juventus.

Second in the ranking remains the Dane Preben Elkjaer, who is mainly responsible for the first title from the Calcio of Verona. He collected 71 points from one first, 13 second, four third and one fourth place. After his third position in the previous year, Elkjaer is making serious growth, but it is simply impossible to reach the top. After him, with an asset of only 46 points, is Bern Schuster from Barcelona. The player from West Germany enters the top three for the second time since 1981. The five are completed by Juventus European champion and Platini team-mate Michael Laudrup of Denmark, as well as two-time winner of the competition from West Germany Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, defending the colors of Inter. The only Bulgarian in the ranking is Georgi Dimitrov - Jacky. The CSKA Sofia footballer shares the last position with nine other players who, like him, have one point each.

As for the winner, he became Juventus' top scorer for the third consecutive season, as well as top scorer in the Italian Serie A with 18 goals. This does not bring a new championship title for the "Bianconeri", who remain only sixth, but more important for them is the performance in Europe and in particular the European Champions Cup. The disappointment of 1983 still lingered and was not erased by winning the National Cup Winners' Cup a year later. Still, Juve managed to reach the top, with Platini taking the main credit, scoring 7 goals to make him top scorer in this tournament as well, sharing the award with Gothenburg's Torbjörn Nilsson.

The Frenchman scored Bordeaux's precious third goal at Turin's Stadio Comunale in the semi-finals to give the Old Lady a comfortable lead ahead of the return leg in France, which they lost 2-0. In the final in Brussels on 29 May, Juve won 1-0 against Liverpool thanks to a Michel Platini penalty goal in the 58th minute. This triumph suggests that at the end of the year something unprecedented will happen, namely that a footballer will win the Ballon d'Or in three consecutive campaigns.

But despite what he has achieved until May, Platini is not lowering his level, because it is clear that the competition for the prize is huge, and he is credited with two more goals in the autumn at Keş, one of which helped Juve knock Verona out in the second round. In Serie A, his contribution to the Bianconeri's eight consecutive starts has also been significant: a winning goal against Torino in the derby of the round and a hat-trick against Bari. There followed a crucial goal against Roma in a 2-1 win in a 3-1 eventual victory, an equalizer against Inter in the Derby d'Italia, two goals against Lecce and the winner against eventual champions Sampdoria. The new season looks great, and Platini is setting a tone that can only continue to bring him success.

In the year 1985, there was a well-known football player who never stopped bringing joy to French fans and especially to those of Juventus. It's no wonder Michel Platini won a third consecutive Ballon d'Or.