The 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony is set to take place on September 22, and the young Lamine Yamal is often painted as one of the two players most likely to get it. His main rival is Ousmane Dembele, a French player whose team has just won the Champions League. Yamal doesn’t have an unbelievable number of goals to his name, and even though Barcelona had a great season, it was far from what people would consider worthy of the highest praise. So why is it that his name has become almost synonymous with the Ballon d’Or?
Despite being only 17, Yamal played in 55 games this season. 35 of them were La Liga games, 13 were Champions League matches, and the other seven were divided between Copa de Rey and Supercopa de España. In all those games, he scored 18 goals and racked up 25 assists.
At first glance, these stats are nowhere near those of Dembele, who participated in 49 games and had a G/A of 48. There are two factors that should be taken into account when comparing the two. First of all, most of the players’ matches happened in two different leagues. Many people believe that the La Liga is a harder competition than the French Ligue 1.
The second thing worth keeping in mind is that G/A is neither the best nor the only way to measure good football. Yamal can create great moments on the field that aid his team, but do not necessarily lead to a goal. He is one of the backbones of Barcelona, often finding himself in the right place at the right time. This is a great skill for any player to possess, but a true blessing in someone with his whole career still ahead of him.
While there is no major international tournament taking place this summer, there were still a few national games that solidified Yamal’s position. The most important ones were the Nations League quarter and semi-finals.
Spain played two quarter-finals games against the Netherlands. Both ended up with a draw, resulting in a winner being revealed through a penalty shootout. Yamal played a great part in Spain’s eventual victory. He pushed his team’s games forward and even managed to score an important goal in the extra time of the second leg.
Having advanced into the semi-finals, Spain faced off against France. The match was incredibly tense and filled with goals. The final score stood at 5:4 for the Spanish team. Yamal was personally responsible for two goals and was involved in the action that led to scoring another one.
Not everyone believes that out of all the players, Yamal is the one most deserving of receiving football’s most prestigious trophy. The main criticism related to the player is that it’s his age and popularity that make him a Ballon d’Or frontrunner, not his skills and statistics.
While it’s hard to deny Yamal’s immense talent, there is a case to be made that his achievements simply aren’t enough. Would he be a contender if he weren’t playing for the immensely popular Barcelona? There is a big chance that it wouldn’t be the case. After all, Barcelona is one of the most well-known and beloved football clubs in the world, and being a part of its history does give players very good PR.
With all that being said, Yamal is still one of the best, if not the best, players to have emerged in the past years. His skills on the field stun everyone who decides to watch either Barcelona or Spain. It’s hard to say if it will be him or Dembele who ends up winning the coveted Ballon d’Or, but one thing is sure. Yamal is not to be dismissed.
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