PARIS (AP) — Ousmane Dembélé won the Ballon d’Or for leading Paris Saint-Germain to its first Champions League title and Aitana Bonmatí received the women’s award for a third successive year on Monday.
Dembélé succeeded Manchester City midfielder Rodri to become the sixth Frenchman to win it after Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema.
Bonmatí won ahead of her Spain teammate Mariona Caldentey. She's only the third player in the award's history to win three in a row after Michel Platini (1983–85) and Lionel Messi (2009-12).
It has been a remarkable turn of fortune for Dembélé, who at one point last season was snubbed by PSG coach Luis Enrique for disciplinary reasons. But once repositioned as a No. 9, he became a scoring machine and was inspirational in PSG's historic Champions League campaign. The French club also completed a quadruple last season.
In the Champions League final, Dembélé was praised afterward for the way he contributed to PSG's pressing and his ability to defend during the 5-0 rout of Inter Milan.
Dembélé won ahead of teenage star Lamine Yamal. The Barcelona forward, who turned 18 in July, helped Barcelona win La Liga and the Copa del Rey last season and reach the Champions League semifinals. He also helped Spain win the European Championship in July 2024. ___
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