Paris Saint-Germain ahead Ousmane Dembélé has overwhelmed Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal to the Ballon d’Or after a tremendous season that ended with Champions League success.
Dembélé, 28, scored 35 targets in 53 appearances in all competitions for treble-winners PSG, who additionally received Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France along with their first ever Champions League trophy.
The French aspect additionally reached the ultimate of the Membership World Cup in the summertime, ultimately dropping to Chelsea within the last in america.
Dembélé — who’s at the moment injured and wasn’t a part of PSG’s squad for Monday’s rescheduled sport towards Marseille — collected the award on the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on Monday.
The Ballon d’Or is given to the perfect males’s participant over the previous season and is run by France Soccer, with worldwide journalists voting for the winner primarily based on particular person performances, crew achievements and a participant’s class and honest play.
“Thanks all,” an emotional Dembélé stated on Monday. “What simply occurred to me is unbelievable. I am speechless. It has been a tremendous season with PSG. I’ve skilled unbelievable issues, and I am a bit nervous; it is not straightforward.
“Receiving this trophy, particularly from Ronaldinho, is actually distinctive. I need to thank PSG for signing me in 2023. The president, the complete crew, and the membership. They’re a beautiful household. From day one, the president has handled me very effectively.”
Dembélé, who succeeds Manchester Metropolis’s Rodri because the winner, was thought of one of many greatest abilities within the sport when he broke onto the scene, first at Rennes and later at Borussia Dortmund.
He grew to become the sixth Frenchman to win it after Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema.
“I might additionally wish to thank all of the employees at PSG who’ve been unbelievable,” he stated. “Luis Enrique, who is sort of a father to me. He has been essential to my profession, regardless that it is not over but. Thanks to all my teammates. We have received virtually the whole lot. You’ve got been by my aspect, and collectively we have raised our stage to realize these crew trophies. That is a person award, however all of us share on this success as a crew.”
Barcelona paid over €100 million ($117.7m) to signal him in 2017, however regardless of spending six seasons on the Catalan membership, he by no means fairly managed to raise his sport to the subsequent stage.
Nevertheless, since transferring to PSG in 2023 for €50m, he has established himself as among the best gamers within the sport underneath coach Luis Enrique.
“Thanks to all of the golf equipment I’ve performed for: Stade Rennes, Borussia Dortmund, and the membership I at all times dreamed of taking part in for, Barcelona,” he stated. “I realized a lot there, taking part in alongside gamers like Messi and Iniesta. It was an excellent studying expertise. I’m so comfortable. After I see the listing of legends who’ve received this award… I labored arduous for the crew to win the Champions League, Ligue 1 … to win this trophy is unbelievable. I’m very comfortable.”
Final season, after Kylian Mbappé’s transfer to Actual Madrid, he took on an much more central function within the aspect, typically taking part in via the center versus vast, and the outcomes have been explosive.
Along with his 35 targets, he additionally registered 16 assists as a part of a PSG crew that made historical past by successful the treble.
Dembélé’s greatest competitors got here from teenager Yamal, who helped Barça to win LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Supercopa.
Yamal, 18, additionally produced a few of his greatest moments and targets within the greatest video games, together with the Champions League semifinal defeat to Inter Milan and the Clásico towards Actual Madrid.
Earlier in Paris, Yamal additionally received the Kopa Trophy for greatest under-21 participant over the earlier season, whereas Vicky López of Barcelona received the ladies’s greatest under-21 participant.
“I must carry on working to win different awards sooner or later,” Yamal stated.
Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmatí was awarded her third straight Ballon d’Or Féminin, becoming a member of Michel Platini and Lionel Messi as solely the third participant in historical past to three-peat.
Elsewhere, Arsenal’s Viktor Gyökeres, previously of Sporting CP, and Barcelona’s Ewa Pajor received the Gerd Müller trophy for many targets within the season, whereas Manchester Metropolis’s Gianluigi Donnarumma and Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton have been named greatest goalkeepers on the earth. Donnarumma obtained the respect for his performances with PSG within the 2024-25 season and with Italy.
PSG supervisor Luis Enrique and England ladies’s crew supervisor, Sarina Wiegman, obtained the Johan Cruyff trophies, awarded to the perfect coaches of the yr.