Ousmane Dembele could not maintain again his feelings as he thanked his household after successful the 2025 Ballon d’Or. His story is certainly one of resilience. A star boy who threatened to finish in failure, surrounded by harm struggles and a Barcelona transfer which merely by no means clicked. However finally a participant who now sits atop soccer’s throne after present process his very personal remontada at Paris Saint-Germain.
For all of the opinions about those that missed out on the award, it mustn’t take away from the Frenchman’s personal story. Nobody may have foreseen the genius of Luis Enrique’s new false 9 apart from the PSG boss himself. Dembele turned reborn. A participant who merely didn’t rating sufficient turned a participant who couldn’t cease doing so.
By the point the ultimate whistle sounded in PSG’s 5-0 thrashing of Inter Milan within the Champions League closing, Dembele had scored 35 targets and assisted one other 16 in all competitions, with seven of these contributions coming within the knockout stage of Europe’s elite competitors. There aren’t many who loved a greater season than the previous Barcelona man. France Soccer believes that not a single participant did, in reality.
Lamine Yamal was pressured to accept second place. He is the star boy that Dembele was and a lot extra, however he is been pressured to attend earlier than his potential period of dominance commences. Vitinha, in the meantime, stunned many by putting third. The stylish midfielder performed a key position alongside Dembele in PSG’s treble final season and has earned his place among the many world’s greatest from Wolverhampton Wanderers failure years prior.
After which there’s Mohamed Salah in fourth. Sure, fourth. The Egyptian, who missed out on nomination altogether final season, didn’t even make the rostrum following a yr that many consider was worthy of successful the award itself.
Why Salah was robbed of the Ballon d’Or
There aren’t many gamers who loved a greater season than Dembele, as talked about, however Salah did. The Egyptian created historical past within the Premier League with extra aim involvements than some other participant within the historical past of a 38-game season and even matched the document set by Alan Shearer, who wanted 42 video games. Merely put, he was unstoppable.
2024/25 All Competitions | Salah | Dembele |
|---|---|---|
Appearances | 52 | 53 |
Objectives | 34 | 35 |
Assists | 23 | 16 |
The Ballon d’Or’s social media revealed the standards for successful the award earlier than the ceremony, stating that particular person performances, decisive and spectacular character, staff performances and achievements, class and honest play would resolve the rankings.
“We’re speaking Ballon d’Or’s now. If we’re not speaking Ballon d’Or’s for Mohamed Salah now, then it’s getting out of hand.” – Daniel Sturridge, February 2025
Primarily based on the above metrics, it feels absurd that Salah completed outdoors the highest three. The one participant near matching him was certainly Dembele, who deserved to be neck and neck with the Egyptian, not miles past him.
The place Salah misplaced Ballon d’Or votes
Finally, Salah will look again on Liverpool vs PSG because the turning level for the Ballon d’Or. As soon as once more, rightly or wrongly, the Champions League took priority over anything within the minds of France Soccer. One penalty shootout between two of the world’s greatest, who simply occurred to fulfill within the final 16, arguably performed a big half in Dembele’s eventual victory and Salah’s snub.
That is the place the award is barely flawed. It is human nature to lean in the direction of recency, however these voting for the Ballon d’Or winner merely should think about the season as a complete slightly than the ultimate months earlier than the ceremony. Salah was strolling in the direction of his throne within the first-half of the marketing campaign, having recorded 30 aim involvements within the Premier League by the point that January arrived.
Dembele, in the meantime, was but to get going. The ahead had recorded 13 league aim involvements and had discovered the again of the online simply eight occasions. It was removed from Ballon d’Or-worthy. We now know, in fact, that Enrique’s genius quickly performed a component and the Frenchman’s greatest was unlocked, however it was Salah who appeared on target for the well-known award.
On no account did the Liverpool man carry his type to a sudden halt, both – including 17 extra aim involvements to his identify earlier than the Premier League marketing campaign got here to an finish. Alas, someplace alongside the way in which, the glimmer of PSG’s Champions League trophy blinded France Soccer to the historical past that Salah had created.
For now, Liverpool’s Egyptian King is pressured to attend for his crowing second on soccer’s greatest stage. Whether or not his time will come in any respect is now the large query. If that doesn’t arrive, then Salah will little question be part of the likes of Andres Iniesta and Thierry Henry as one of many best gamers to by some means miss out on the award.
