Lamine Yamal sends message of intent after Ballon d’Or

Barcelona enjoyed an enormously successful night at the Ballon d’Or gala on Monday night, winning both Kopa Trophies and a Ballon d’Or. The Blaugrana had numerous nominees in the rankings too, as well as Ewa Pajor picking up the Gerd Muller Trophy for the best goalscorer. Yet much of the focus has been on Lamine Yamal missing out on the men’s Ballon d’Or to Ousmane Dembele.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward seemingly was a clear winner ahead of the Barcelona star, who ended up replacing him on the right wing at Camp Nou. The 18-year-old star was later seen congratulating the Frenchman.

The following day, Lamine Yamal addressed the award for the first time publicly since he was on stage in the Teatre du Chatelet. He of course picked up the Kopa Trophy himself for a second year running, awarded to the best young player from the year. Lamine Yamal seems to be hoping to swap places with Dembele at some point in the future.

“God’s plan is perfect, you have to climb to get to the top. Happy for the Kopa trophy x2 and congratulate Ousmane Dembele for the award and the great season.”

Lamine Yamal was one of four nominees for Barcelona in the rankings, with Robert Lewandowski coming 17th, Pedri finishing 11th and Raphinha coming 5th. The former two decided not to travel in order to conserve themselves in a busy run of games.

Meanwhile on the women’s side, Aitana Bonmati picked up a third straight Ballon d’Or, as one of five nominees. Alexia Putellas (4th), Patri Guijarro (6th), Ewa Pajor (8th), Claudio Pina (11th) and Caroline Graham Hansen (13th) made it nearly half of the top 13 players plying their trade for Barcelona, while Vicky Lopez picked up the women’s Kopa Trophy.