On This Day: Ronaldo won 5th Ballon d'Or, Messi made UCL debut

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (December 7th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, please post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On this day in 2017, Ronaldo won his 5th Ballon d'Or

Ronaldo is quite simply the king of football. The former Madridista forward has picked up the Ballon d'Or 2017, making it two in a row and a total of five in his sparkling career. France Football magazine, the publication charged with presenting the prestigious accolade, has chosen the Portuguese ace as the best player in the world for yet another year.

Cristiano received 946 points to get the better of Messi and Neymar in a vote by journalists from 176 countries.

On this day in 2004, Messi made his UCL debut

Messi debuted in three competitions in his first five matches for Barcelona's senior team, with a first European appearance coming in December 2004.

It was a group-stage dead rubber, with Messi only having been an unused sub at that point in the Champions League against AC Milan twice. His first taste on a continental pitch came at Shakhtar Donetsk with Barca already guaranteed a top-two finish in the group.

Messi played the full 90 minutes on this occasion but once more suffered defeat. A much-changed Barca side—though still with Puyol, Iniesta, Xavi and Victor Valdes—lost 2-0, and Messi failed to have much of an impact.

This was to be his only experience of European football that season, as he was left out of the squads for the round-of-16 legs wherein Barca were knocked out by Chelsea.

On this day in 1996, Patrick Vieira scored his first goal for Arsenal

Patrick Vieira scored his first goal for Arsenal with just TEN seconds of normal time to go in the 2-2 draw with Derby.

His performances for Arsenal in the subsequent months made him a fans’ favourite and was lauded as "…the playmaker Arsenal have sought since Paul Davis pulled the strings in the 1991 championship-winning team."

On this day in 1980, Chelsea legend John Terry born

A strong, tenacious, commanding and physical defender, Terry excelled in the air and was known for his aggressive tackling, positioning, leadership and his ability to read the game. He is considered to be one of the greatest central defenders of his generation. 

Terry is Chelsea's most successful captain, having led them to five Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups, one UEFA Europa League and one UEFA Champions League title since 2004. He is one of five players to have made over 500 appearances for Chelsea and is also the club's all-time highest scoring defender.

Following his departure from Chelsea, Terry spent one season with Aston Villa in the EFL Championship before retiring.

On this day in 1989, Milan won European Super Cup for the first time by defeating Barcelona

AC Milan won the UEFA Super Cup for the first time in 1989 after a two-legged success against FC Barcelona. Barça had proved too strong for UC Sampdoria in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in Berne on 10 May 1989, running out 2-0 winners, but they were faced with an enormous task against a Milan side who had crushed FC Steaua Bucureşti 4-0 in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup final.

The Catalan side battled back with Guillermo Amor equalising after 67 minutes, but a 1-1 draw did not augur well for the second leg at the San Siro two weeks later. Alberigo Evani duly scored after 55 minutes to secure the title for Milan.

On this day in 1942, The flame-headed wild-man of Scottish football, Billy Bremner died suddenly

Billy Bremner died suddenly on this day in 1942 in a Doncaster hospital after a suspected heart attack. A midfielder, who played for Leeds Utd. from 1959-76, he captained the side during the most successful period of the club.