Maldini picks the Ballon d'Or winner: direct attack on the Madridist nominees

The 69th edition of the Ballon d'Or will take place on September 22 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. However, this past Thursday, L'Equipe revealed the different nominees for the awards that will be presented at the gala.

Regarding the 2025 Ballon d'Or, Real Madrid has three footballers among the nominees: Vinícius, Kylian Mbappé, and Jude Bellingham. At the white club, which still believes that everything is more than ready, they don't agree with the absence of Fede Valverde. In fact, the Madridist team hasn't mentioned the award in question on its social media.

Meanwhile, FC Barcelona has four selected players: Raphinha, Pedri, Lewandowski, and Lamine Yamal. The current Champions League champion, Paris Saint-Germain, has a total of nine: Kvaratskhelia, Donnarumma, Nuno Mendes, Achraf Hakimi, Désiré Doué, Joao Neves, Vitinha, Fabián Ruíz, and Dembélé.

The current winner is not on the Ballon d'Or list

It should be remembered that Rodrigo Hernández, current Manchester City player and the last Ballon d'Or winner, is not on the list. The Spanish footballer injured his knee at the beginning of last season and barely played matches during the campaign.

Rodri is, along with Messi, the second player to win the Ballon d'Or and not be among the nominated footballers the following year.

Julio "Maldini"'s opinion on the Ballon d'Or

Julio "Maldini" spoke about the Ballon d'Or in one of his latest videos. The well-known communicator highlighted his winner and analyzed the role of the Madridist players on the list.

"Vinícius should've won the season when Rodri won; I don't see him among the top ten now. If he makes the top ten, it'll be very close, because he hasn't had a very good season", commented "Maldini" regarding the Brazilian.

"Jude Bellingham's season hasn't been good. He's on this list of 30 players and is one of those who could've been left out for Kimmich to come in. He's on the list because of what he means as a player, but during the season he's been well below his level", he added.

"Kylian Mbappé has been the Golden Boot, but of course, he hasn't won any of the important titles. Eighth nomination at 26 years old, I think he'll win it someday, but it won't be this year. I see him between fifth and sixth, with Pedri, Harry Kane...", commented "Maldini".

Finally, the journalist made it clear that his Ballon d'Or is Ousmane Dembélé, footballer for Paris Saint-Germain, ahead of Lamine Yamal. "Besides the goals and what he creates, he's been the emblem of the new Paris Saint-Germain. He's transformed, scored many goals and in very important matches, he's put on displays and has been unstoppable", he concluded.