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Paris Saint-Germain star, Ousmane Dembele is tipped to hold off Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal and win the men’s Ballon d’Or today, while Aitana Bonmati’s chances of claiming a third straight women’s prize hang in the balance.
The cream of world soccer will gather at the Theatre du Chatelet in central Paris to discover who will be the latest winners of an award dominated for so long by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
With Rodri not a contender to retain the most prestigious individual prize in soccer after his season was marred by injury, Dembele has emerged as the favorite from a list of nominees dominated by PSG.
Nine members of the PSG team that won the Champions League, demolishing Inter Milan 5-0 in the final, feature among the 30 nominees.
PSG’s nominees are Desire Doue, Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, Fabian Ruiz and Vitinha, as well as goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, now with Manchester City.
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But Dembele stands out after a magnificent season in which he filled the void left in Paris by the departed Kylian Mbappe, scoring 35 goals.
That contribution helped PSG to also complete a domestic clean sweep and reach the final of the Club World Cup.
The Ballon d’Or is voted for by a panel of journalists, one from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA world rankings.
It is the top 50 for the women, in which the field appears wide open as Barcelona and Spain star Bonmati goes for a treble.
