Gerard Pique Endorses Lamine Yamal For Ballon D'Or Success Amidst Strong Competition

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Gerard Pique has expressed his desire for Lamine Yamal to clinch the Ballon d'Or, describing the young talent as exceptional. Yamal and Ousmane Dembele are strong contenders for the award this year, following impressive performances for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. Barcelona secured the LaLiga title, Copa del Rey, and Supercopa de Espana, with Yamal scoring 18 goals and providing 21 assists across all competitions.

Pique had the chance to play alongside both Dembele and Yamal during his time at Barcelona. He holds both players in high regard but believes Yamal stands out. "I had the opportunity to share a dressing room with Ousmane and Lamine Yamal. They're both incredible people," he told Sport.es. "Ousmane was like a brother, but Lamine is special. I would prefer Lamine Yamal to win because he's at Barcelona and also involved in the King's League [a seven-a-side tournament founded by Pique]. He has a team, so I would like him to win. But I also really like Ousmane, and if he wins, I'll be happy for him."

Yamal led LaLiga in several categories: assists (13), shots from outside the box (67), big chances created (28), shots following a carry (56), chances created after a carry (35), throughballs (33), and dribbles completed (161) during the 2024-25 season. His contributions were vital to Barcelona's success.

Meanwhile, Dembele played a crucial role in PSG's treble-winning campaign, contributing significantly to their first Champions League victory. He assisted two of PSG's five goals in their historic win over Inter Milan. In total, Dembele scored 33 goals and provided 13 assists for PSG in the 2024-25 season.

Among players from Europe's top five leagues, only Mohamed Salah (57), Raphinha (56), Harry Kane (49), and Kylian Mbappe (48) surpassed Dembele's 46 goal involvements. In the Champions League alone, he contributed to 14 goals—scoring eight and assisting six—marking the second-highest goal involvement by a French player in a single edition of the competition after Karim Benzema's 17 in 2021-22.

Pique also praised his former coach Luis Enrique, who achieved significant success with PSG by leading them to an unprecedented Champions League final victory margin. Enrique became only the second manager to secure a treble with a European club twice, following Pep Guardiola.

Luis Enrique's Leadership

Pique shared his admiration for Enrique: "I know him very well," he said. "He's fantastic. You've only recently started getting to know him, but he's a true leader. And he always shows it." Since Kylian Mbappe's departure from PSG, Enrique has transformed them into one of the world's most formidable teams.

The achievements of both Yamal and Dembele highlight their potential as future stars in football. While Pique favours Yamal due to his connection with Barcelona and involvement in Pique's King's League project, he acknowledges Dembele's impressive contributions at PSG.