Five-time Ballon d’Or winner. Cristiano Ronaldo argued on Saturday that the individual prize should go to the Champions League winner.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Nations League final in Munich between Portugal and Spain, the veteran said “trophies” should determine who wins the Ballon d’Or.
“In my opinion, whoever wins it should be on a team that has won trophies. The Ballon d’Or winner should be in a team that has won the Champions League,” the 40-year-old forward told reporters.
The Ballon d’Or, first presented in 1956 by the French magazine France Football, is given to the player who is regarded as the best of the preceding season.
Following Paris Saint-Germain’s 5-0 victory against Inter Milan in the Champions League final last Saturday, there have been mounting calls for Ousmane Dembele to win this season’s trophy.
Lamine Yamal’s outstanding performance in Spain’s 5-4 Nations League semi-final victory against France, however, has prompted some to argue that the 17-year-old should be given the Ballon d’Or, making him the youngest winner in the competition’s history.
France coach Didier Deschamps backed Dembele for the award, saying, “considering the season Ousmane is having, he deserves it, and that’s all I wish for him.”
At a press conference in Stuttgart on Saturday, France captain Kylian Mbappe told reporters he backed Dembele.
“Does anyone really need me to explain? Right now we’re talking about Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembele, but I’m voting for Dembele.”
