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Dembele and Kelly Among the Favorites to Win Men’s and Women’s Ballon d’Or Award in Paris 

PSG's Ousmane Dembele during the League One soccer match Paris Saint-Germain against Angers at the Parc des Princes stadium, on Aug. 22, 2025 in Paris. (AP)
PSG's Ousmane Dembele during the League One soccer match Paris Saint-Germain against Angers at the Parc des Princes stadium, on Aug. 22, 2025 in Paris. (AP)
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Dembele and Kelly Among the Favorites to Win Men’s and Women’s Ballon d’Or Award in Paris 

PSG's Ousmane Dembele during the League One soccer match Paris Saint-Germain against Angers at the Parc des Princes stadium, on Aug. 22, 2025 in Paris. (AP)
PSG's Ousmane Dembele during the League One soccer match Paris Saint-Germain against Angers at the Parc des Princes stadium, on Aug. 22, 2025 in Paris. (AP)

Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele and England forward Chloe Kelly are among the leading contenders to win the men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or award on Monday.

They are frontrunners among the 30 men’s and 30 women’s nominees revealed last month by France Football magazine, with the winners announced at a ceremony in central Paris.

The 28-year-old Dembele was inspirational in leading PSG to its first Champions League title and is among a remarkable nine PSG players vying for the men’s award. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has since joined Manchester City but was nominated as a PSG player.

Teenage Barcelona star Lamine Yamal and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah are among the other men's candidates.

When England won the women’s European Championship in July, the 27-year-old Kelly blasted home the decisive penalty in the final against World Cup winner Spain. She also won the women’s Champions League with surprise winner Arsenal.

She faces competition from defender Lucy Bronze and goalkeeper Hannah Hampton — her England teammates who both play for Chelsea — and from Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmatí, the winner of the past two awards.

Barcelona players have won the past four women's awards.

PSG players absent

Because the French soccer league postponed Sunday night’s match between host Marseille and PSG by 24 hours due to a severe weather forecast, the match at Stade Velodrome is scheduled to start Monday at 8 p.m. local time (1800 GMT).

That clashes with the Ballon d’Or ceremony and prevents most PSG players from attending.

However, Dembele, and his fellow nominees Desire Doue and Joao Neves are injured and not in the matchday squad, leaving them free to attend the ceremony.

PSG’s Luis Enrique was nominated for best coach.

The Ballon d’Or was created by France Football magazine and has been awarded since 1956 for men, and since 2018 for women. It is voted for by journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings for the men’s award and the top 50 FIFA-ranked countries for the women’s award.

Each journalist, one per country, selects players in ranked order with points attributed to each position.

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Sports

Nobody Better Than PSG, Says Luis Enrique Ahead of Bayern Semi

Paris Saint-Germain's Spanish head coach Luis Enrique arrives for a press conference of French football club Paris Saint-Germain a day ahead of their UEFA Champions League semi-final match against German club FC Bayern Munich at the PSG Campus in Poissy, north-west of Paris, on April 27, 2026. (AFP)
Paris Saint-Germain's Spanish head coach Luis Enrique arrives for a press conference of French football club Paris Saint-Germain a day ahead of their UEFA Champions League semi-final match against German club FC Bayern Munich at the PSG Campus in Poissy, north-west of Paris, on April 27, 2026. (AFP)
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Nobody Better Than PSG, Says Luis Enrique Ahead of Bayern Semi

Paris Saint-Germain's Spanish head coach Luis Enrique arrives for a press conference of French football club Paris Saint-Germain a day ahead of their UEFA Champions League semi-final match against German club FC Bayern Munich at the PSG Campus in Poissy, north-west of Paris, on April 27, 2026. (AFP)
Paris Saint-Germain's Spanish head coach Luis Enrique arrives for a press conference of French football club Paris Saint-Germain a day ahead of their UEFA Champions League semi-final match against German club FC Bayern Munich at the PSG Campus in Poissy, north-west of Paris, on April 27, 2026. (AFP)

Holders Paris St Germain take on Bayern Munich in a Champions League semi-final clash of two of the top attacking teams in Europe, and while Luis Enrique says the German club are the most consistent, no team is better than his side.

Three of the last four teams, PSG, Bayern and Arsenal, are top of their domestic leagues and the German side have clinched the Bundesliga, losing one game, having also lost once in Europe.

While PSG and Atletico Madrid had to come through the playoffs, Arsenal and Bayern were the top two in the league phase. In the last ‌16 and quarter-finals, ‌PSG netted 12 goals and Bayern 16.

"It's not just about ‌attacking ⁠statistics, but if ⁠you look at the defensive ones too, these are the best teams in Europe," Luis Enrique told reporters ahead of Tuesday's first leg at home.

"Arsenal have done an incredible job this season also, in terms of consistency. Bayern are a bit ahead of us because they have only lost two games, but if we speak about what we have shown as a team, we're right up there.

"And no team is ⁠better than us. I said this after we didn't finish ‌in the top eight in the league ‌phase that I didn't see any teams better than us."

Last season, PSG also finished outside ‌the top eight in the league stage before going on to lift the ‌trophy, and in Ligue 1, having battled with Lens for long periods, they are six points clear.

"Every coach wants to head into the run-in in the best possible conditions," the PSG manager said.

"It's the magic of the Champions League which gives special energy to the ‌players, everyone wants to be there and to make the most of this time."

NO NEGOTIATING

Luis Enrique is well aware of ⁠the attacking threat ⁠posed by Bayern, including wingers Luis Diaz and Michael Olise, but that will not change the way his side approach the tie.

"We won the Champions League last season with (full backs) Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes doing what they do," he said.

"Of course they have to defend as well, but we know that they have to attack more than they defend if we want to win.

"We know how difficult it will be and we have to know how to defend well."

The French club had long set their sights on winning the Champions League, and having finally realized that dream last season, there is no chance of a less ambitious PSG this time.

"The first run was a relief, now it's a different source of motivation because last year was great," Luis Enrique said. "We made history. And now, we're hungry for more."

Sports

Salah Will Get Fitting Liverpool Farewell Despite Injury, Says Van Dijk

Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Crystal Palace - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - April 25, 2026 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah during the warm up before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Crystal Palace - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - April 25, 2026 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah during the warm up before the match. (Reuters)
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Salah Will Get Fitting Liverpool Farewell Despite Injury, Says Van Dijk

Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Crystal Palace - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - April 25, 2026 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah during the warm up before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Crystal Palace - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - April 25, 2026 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah during the warm up before the match. (Reuters)

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is certain Mohamed Salah will get the send-off his glittering career deserves, even if injury prevents the Egyptian from playing again for the Reds.

Salah, who will leave Anfield after nine years at the end of the season, was forced off with a suspected hamstring injury in Saturday's 3-1 win over Crystal Palace.

Liverpool are awaiting the results of a scan to determine the extent of the problem, but with just four games of the campaign remaining, the 33-year-old may not feature again this season.

"If you get injured at this stage of the season, especially in the situation he is in, there is only two more home games left for him, it's a combination of feelings that go through your mind," said Van Dijk.

"He will get the send-off regardless. I don't think that is the thing at this point, we shouldn't think too far ahead.

"Knowing Mo, he is a quick healer and with the right people around him let's see."

Salah has scored 257 goals in 440 appearances since his arrival in 2017, behind only Ian Rush and Roger Hunt in Liverpool's list of leading goalscorers.

The winger has been integral to the club's rise back to the top of English and European football, winning the Champions League and two Premier League titles among a clutch of trophies.

Salah also scooped the players' player of the year award a record three times and was the Premier League's top scorer on four occasions.

Sports

Team-First Kane Propelling Bayern to Glory as PSG Showdown Looms

Bayern Munich's English forward #09 Harry Kane celebrates after scoring his team's fourth goal 3:4 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between 1 FSV Mainz 05 and FC Bayern Munich in Mainz, western Germany on April 25, 2026. (AFP)
Bayern Munich's English forward #09 Harry Kane celebrates after scoring his team's fourth goal 3:4 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between 1 FSV Mainz 05 and FC Bayern Munich in Mainz, western Germany on April 25, 2026. (AFP)
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Team-First Kane Propelling Bayern to Glory as PSG Showdown Looms

Bayern Munich's English forward #09 Harry Kane celebrates after scoring his team's fourth goal 3:4 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between 1 FSV Mainz 05 and FC Bayern Munich in Mainz, western Germany on April 25, 2026. (AFP)
Bayern Munich's English forward #09 Harry Kane celebrates after scoring his team's fourth goal 3:4 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between 1 FSV Mainz 05 and FC Bayern Munich in Mainz, western Germany on April 25, 2026. (AFP)

Having decisively ended his own silverware drought with back-to-back Bundesliga titles, Harry Kane's team-first approach has been key for a Bayern Munich side now chasing club football's biggest prize.

Whoever makes it through Bayern's Champions League semi-final against holders Paris Saint-Germain, with the first leg in the French capital on Tuesday, will be the favorites for the final in Budapest in May.

Last season's Bundesliga title was Kane's maiden team trophy, at the age of 31. Having added another league crown this season, Bayern's habit of hoovering up trophies is already rubbing off on the England captain.

As always, Kane's individual statistics this year have been stunning. The former Tottenham forward has 53 goals in 45 games in all competitions, the most by an Englishman in any league in almost a century.

And this time around, Kane's goals have come at crucial moments of big games.

Against Real in Madrid, his long-range strike proved to be the winner.

In the second leg, Kane's first-half goal brought Bayern level on the night and put them ahead in a quarter-final tie which was in danger of getting away from them.

- 'I'm here to win the Champions League' -

Kane left England 47 goals shy of Alan Shearer's Premier League scoring record, with some commentators wondering why he would leave with the mark in sight.

But while Kane developed a reputation at Spurs for stacking up individual records rather than team honors, in hindsight the striker's pursuit of goals was a clear example of his team focus.

Since moving to Bayern, a club with quality across the pitch and a number of threats, Kane often drops to help in the build-up, sometimes deep into midfield.

Kane's willingness to sacrifice individual honors for team objectives has never been more evident than in recent weeks, when Bayern had the league largely wrapped up and needed to focus on Europe.

After Bayern beat Dortmund in February, Kane had scored four consecutive braces. With 30 goals in 24 games, he looked on course for Robert Lewandowski's single season record of 41 goals.

But since then, Kane has started just one of Bayern's seven league games, as Vincent Kompany has wrapped him in cotton wool for the big stage.

After coming off the bench to help Bayern come from three goals down to win 4-3 at Mainz on Saturday, Kane told reporters where his true focus lay.

"It'll be tough," Kane said of chasing down Lewandowski's record. "Obviously I'm here to try and win the Champions League and try and win the German Cup.

"So, ultimately that takes priority. All I can do is when I'm on the pitch, try and score, try and impact the game."

Undoubtedly the biggest star in Bayern's dressing room, Kane could have pushed back against his benching, but he backed Kompany's call with loftier goals in mind.

- 'Something special' -

Bayern were always expected to beat Mainz on Saturday, but the way they overran their opponents in the second half showed their unrelenting hunger and desire.

"This team is truly something special -- that team spirit, that mentality -- it is truly unique," sporting director Christoph Freund said afterwards.

"That gives us a tremendous amount of energy for Tuesday."

Kane called PSG "the reigning European champions for a reason," adding the French champions are "a really strong side with some great quality and are well-coached.

"There's going to be a lot of activity. It's going to come down to moments and quality."

One challenge for Bayern is the absence of coach Vincent Kompany, who is suspended for the opening leg.

Kompany's English assistant Aaron Danks will be in the dugout. Kane said Bayern, who have lost just twice in all competitions this season, are well-drilled enough without the Belgian barking orders.

"Of course we'll miss him on the sideline. He's our boss and our leader. But everyone knows what needs to be done, even if the boss isn't on the sideline."