Dembele’s Second to Shine
The much-anticipated 2025 Ballon d’Or concluded with Frenchman Ousmane Dembele taking house the award after an unprecedented season with PSG. Ousmane racked up 33 targets and 13 assists throughout membership degree, which performed a pivotal half in taking PSG to a treble and their long-awaited Champions League trophy.
The stronger and extra significant message that ought to be taken from the previous Dortmund and Barcelona man successful probably the most prestigious prize of all. That’s about defying expectations, persevering, and reaching your potential in surprising methods.
The 28-year-old’s fame earlier than Luis Enrique’s arrival as PSG head coach was one in every of unreliability, inconsistency, and ‘glass ankles’ on account of his poor harm report.
The Spanish supervisor unearthed the potential that many predicted Dembele to have when he was bought to Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund for a record-breaking payment of €148 million in 2017.
The previous Barcelona supervisor was given the position to choose up the items after star participant and arguably the very best participant on the planet, Kylian Mbappe, departed Paris for Madrid.
Enrique deployed Dembele predominantly by the center for PSG, opposite to his standard place on the wing. This got here as a shock, however with the additions of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and surprise child Need Doue, they turned probably the most scary entrance three in world soccer.
Dembele wasn’t restricted by the centre of the pitch because the three operated as a fluid and dynamic frontline that rotated all through video games, inflicting nightmares for opposition defences.
All of it was testomony to the understanding and work price of the gamers, together with the tactical implementation of Enrique’s desired philosophy.
PSG Domination
PSG was not in need of illustration, as Enrique gained the Johan Cruyff award for Supervisor of the Season. Gianluigi Donnarumma picked up the Yashin award for Goalkeeper of the season.
Portuguese midfielder Vitinha additionally got here third within the Ballon d’Or rating after a stellar season, dictating play from midfield for Paris Saint-Germain, whereas additionally successful the Nations League with Portugal in the summertime of 2023. PSG fullbacks Achraf Hakimi (sixth) and Nuno Mendes (tenth) additionally made the highest 10, that means half of these have been gamers from the Parisian aspect.
Was Anybody Arduous Completed By?
Though Dembele was a deserved winner, some gamers might argue that they weren’t so deserving of the positions they have been ranked.
Mohammed Salah completed the 2024/25 season with 34 targets and 23 assists throughout all competitions. This was sufficient for him to safe the highest objective scorer and prime assister titles within the Premier League, alongside title winners Liverpool.
The Egyptian completed 4th, behind Vitinha (third), Yamal (2nd), and Dembele (1st), regardless of contributing to extra targets than all of them.
The identical may be mentioned for Barcelona winger Raphinha, who remarkably notched up 56 objective contributions throughout all competitions, in comparison with Barca teammate Lamine Yamal, who completed runner-up with 39 fewer objective contributions.
Probably the most shocking identify to make it into the highest 10 needed to be Cole Palmer (eighth), who completed above the likes of Pedri (eleventh), Harry Kane (thirteenth), Joao Neves (nineteenth), and Virgil Van Dijk (twenty eighth).
Palmer had a decent season by his requirements as he put collectively 26 objective contributions (15 targets, 11 assists) in 46 video games. Chelsea certified for the 2025/26 Champions League season and added to their trophy cupboard with victories within the UEFA Convention League and the revamped Membership World Cup within the Summer season.
Not at all a failure of a marketing campaign for Palmer, however compared to among the gamers who had extra profitable seasons, contributed to extra targets, gained extra significant silverware, and completed outdoors of the highest ten, his placement may be seen as beneficiant.
