{"id":310408,"date":"2025-11-22T05:22:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T05:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/does-ousmane-dembele-truly-deserve-the-2025-ballon-dor\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T05:22:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T05:22:11","slug":"does-ousmane-dembele-truly-deserve-the-2025-ballon-dor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=310408","title":{"rendered":"Does Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 Truly Deserve the 2025 Ballon d\u2019Or?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 has just won the 2025 Men\u2019s Ballon d\u2019Or after a big season. Many said he pulled it off. I believe he deserved it. But it\u2019s fair to ask: was it obvious? Were there others who had a strong case? Let me walk you through my reasons and why some lost out.<\/p>\n

Last season, Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 was central to PSG\u2019s greatness. PSG won the Champions League for the first time. They also won Ligue 1 and the French Cup. His numbers back that up. He finished with around 35 goals and 15 assists<\/strong> in 53 games. In the Champions League, he had 14 goal involvements. He created more chances than almost anyone else. He led in non-penalty goals per 90 among forwards in the top five leagues.<\/p>\n

Those are strong proofs of merit. PSG needed him. He delivered in the finals. He had leadership. He pressed. He defended when asked. Luis Enrique said<\/a> he saw \u201call-round work ethic \u2026 how he led the team \u2026 how he defended \u2026 that can be worth the Ballon d\u2019Or.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s talk about Lamine Yamal. He is a beauty. Very young. Huge talent. He won the Kopa Trophy for best under-21 player. He had amazing stats, too. But does youth alone beat trophies + performance, + leadership? Not yet. Yamal is not yet at the stage where people expect him to carry PSG or similar clubs in all competitions. His time will come. This edition, I think the voters made the right call putting him in second.<\/p>\n

Raphinha also deserves huge credit. He had a magnificent season. For Barcelona, he scored 34 goals and made 25 assists in all competitions. He won La Liga, Copa del Rey, and Supercopa. He had big moments in the Champions League, too. Raphinha was among the top chance creators<\/a> and contributed in tight games.<\/p>\n

However, here\u2019s where \u201cPR, narrative, and maybe rumours\u201d come in. I heard talk that if Raphinha had won the Ballon d\u2019Or, Bar\u00e7a might have owed Leeds United about \u20ac30 million<\/strong> because of some clause. I did not verify it fully. It is rumoured. Some fans think that affected how much media and voting momentum he got. Maybe Bar\u00e7a shifted attention to Yamal in part because of that. It might be true, might not be. But in many award races, narrative and off-field perception matter. Raphinha may have been at a slight disadvantage there, not for his football, but for everything around it.<\/p>\n

Given all of this, here is my verdict: yes, Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 deserves the 2025 Ballon d\u2019Or. He had excellent performance numbers, showed up in the biggest matches, and helped lead his team to major trophies. He did more than \u201cgood season\u201d. Dembele was one of the very few who combined silverware, stats, and leadership.<\/p>\n

That said, it was a close race. Yamal might win many future Ballon d\u2019Ors. Raphinha might have won this one with just a bit more narrative or support. But in this season, I think Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 did enough to win.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Was it the right outcome? Did PR cost Raphinha? Is youth undervalued when so much rides on big titles? Was Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 better than all his peers?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 has just won the 2025 Men\u2019s Ballon d\u2019Or after a big season. Many said he pulled it off. I believe he deserved it. But it\u2019s fair to ask: was it obvious? Were there others who had a strong case? Let me walk you through my reasons and why some lost out. Last season, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":310409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140521],"tags":[92673,140523,15530,92674,140522],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-310408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features-and-opinions","tag-ballon","tag-dembele","tag-deserve","tag-dor","tag-ousmane"],"yoast_head":"\nDoes Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 Truly Deserve the 2025 Ballon d\u2019Or? - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=310408\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 Truly Deserve the 2025 Ballon d\u2019Or? - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 has just won the 2025 Men\u2019s Ballon d\u2019Or after a big season. 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