Winner Takes It All: The Fading Merit of Individual Accolades

Winner Takes It All: The Fading Merit of Individual Accolades

Chandler Milligan

In a stunning UEFA Champions League Final in Munich, Paris Saint-Germain erased more than a decade of embarrassment and failure with the most dominant performance in UCL Final history.

A 5-0 lightning storm that saw Inter Milan battered and humiliated, and the Parisian Project has its crown jewel at last.

With the final piece of the puzzle, Luis Enrique’s men complete a historic quadruple, having won all three domestic titles they competed in.

Champions, deservingly.

And now, with European bragging rights secured, Paris Saint-Germain’s players have been elevated to the top of every ranking.

Ousmane Dembele, who has no doubt been outstanding since joining the French side, is now the frontrunner for the fabled Ballon d’Or after his performances in the UCL this season.

Moreover, the French forward was named UEFA Champions League Player of the Tournament.

But was he really the best player in the world this season? Was he even the best player in the UCL?

Has the standard changed in how we view and award individual honours in football?

Since the turn of the decade, individual trophies appear now to be decided purely by European or International success.

In other words: Win the UCL with your club, or the World Cup/Euros/Copa America with your country.

Perhaps this is just the easiest criterion to follow these days, with no clear-cut best in the world to choose from.

Gone were the days when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo performed so far above their peers that for almost 15 years, it was only a contest between the two greats.

Despite these awards being designed for the objective best players in the world, we appear to be entering a period in football where individual statistics, performances, and entertainment value are overlooked in order to choose the key members of the winning team.

Across the course of this season, the Ballon D’Or power rankings have shifted like a cyclone, coordinated entirely by which teams are performing best in the UCL.

Mohamed Salah, who has been one of the most individually dominant and statistically superior footballers since 2017, has managed still to escape the credit he deserves.

In the 2024/25 season, the Egyptian King delivered his most effective season to date, scoring 29 goals and recording 18 assists in the Premier League.

With 47 goal involvements, he matched a long-standing record in the Premier League set by Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer in the mid-nineties, while also eclipsing Thierry Henry, Erling Haaland, and Luis Suárez’s best campaigns.

He recently lifted his second Premier League title with Liverpool and was named Premier League Player of the Season, but despite this remarkable campaign, he hasn’t been included in any Ballon d’Or debates.

His Liverpool side finished first in the UCL table format, but after their Round of 16 exit against PSG, his name has vanished from all conversations.

Almost as if the value of his individual effort is void because he is no longer competing in Europe.

Had Inter Milan won the UCL on Sunday morning instead of PSG, Lautaro Martinez would likely shoot straight into the top three in the Ballon d’Or and UEFA Best awards.

Yann Sommer, who kept the most cleansheets in the competition with seven, would likely see every goalkeeper accolade delivered straight to his personal trophy cabinet.

Admittedly, in Sommer’s case, no goalkeeper who concedes five goals in a major final should be anywhere near those awards.

While some decisions make sense, and quite often the best players in the world will be playing for the winning teams, the decision to favour those who lift the title brings no shortage of controversy.

Raphina has just concluded an extraordinary season for the ages.

So good that it makes one wonder how Vini Jr was anywhere near last season’s Ballon d’Or debate.

The Brazilian matched Cristiano Ronaldo for the best individual UCL campaign in history, recording 21 goals & assists as FC Barcelona exited the competition in a thrilling 7-6 extra-time defeat against Inter Milan.

Raphina has been monumental in Barcelona’s resurgent 2024/25 campaign and is the competition’s top scorer with 13 goals.

He is also the top assister with eight assists, and created the most big chances in the competition with 13.

During Barcelona’s outstanding run, he scored a hattrick against Bayern Munich, a 96th-minute winner against SL Benfica, and scored a late go-ahead goal in the semi-finals against Internazionale, before they ultimately fought back to progress.

With one of the greatest individual campaigns in tournament history, he somehow missed out on the Player of the Season award because his side couldn’t lift the trophy.

Does anybody really believe Ousmane Dembele was the better player?

His goal to equalise against Liverpool was certainly crucial, but was his impact stronger for PSG than Raphina’s was for Barcelona?

If you look at the official UEFA Champions League Team of the Season, you will spot seven PSG players in the team.

While most of these players no doubt deserve their credit, several notable exclusions raise questions.

Serhous Guirassy was excluded from the team, despite being the joint top goalscorer behind Raphinha with 13 goals.

He scored a hattrick against FC Barcelona as they exited the quarter-finals after a 5-3 aggregate defeat.

Pedri, who dropped a spellbinding campaign and is now considered by many to be the best midfielder in the world, couldn’t find a place in this team.

Perhaps the most questionable, however, has been the decision to name Désiré Doué the Young Player of the Tournament.

Lamine Yamal has lit the UCL and the rest of the world on fire this season with his wonder goals, unstoppable drilling, confidence, and generational aura.

Until PSG’s UCL win on Sunday, he was the frontrunner in the Ballon D’Or rankings after an incredible season that saw him decimate Real Madrid as the Blaugrana went on to win three domestic titles.

He contributed a goal in each knockout round of Barcelona’s UCL run, including a Goal of the Season contender against Inter Milan.

Most would call him the rightful winner of the Young Player of the Season award, but it was Désiré Doué who took the merit.

In support of the young Frenchman, it’s hard to overlook two goals and an assist in a UCL Final.

While Lamine Yamal is no doubt the best young player in the world right now, what Doué achieved against Inter is historic!

It’s nothing new in recent years.

Win the major title, and the individual awards will follow.

Who can forget Jorginho winning the UEFA The Best award in the 2020/21 season?

In no way was he the best player or even midfielder in the world, but as a member of Chelsea’s UCL-winning side and Italy’s Euro-winning side, the titles did the talking.

Real Madrid made the same argument last year when they declared that Dani Carvajal should win the Ballon d’Or because he won a UCL title and the Euros with Spain.

At the end of the day, while titles (particularly the Champions League) demonstrate immense success and quality, it shouldn’t be the deciding factor in who the best player in the world is. Part of what makes the best players special is that they don’t always play for the best teams. Being the best player doesn’t mean you win every title, every year.

Both Raphina and Mo Salah stand head and shoulders above the rest of Europe for their individual performances and the impact they have had on their teams this season.

Raphina, who should still be the frontrunner, recorded 39 goals and 25 assists, defeating Real Madrid to win La Liga, the Copa Del Rey, and the Supercopa de España.

He recorded the joint-highest all-time goal involvements in a Champions League campaign and was involved in seven of the goals scored against Real Madrid to help lift all three titles.

Mohamed Salah won the Premier League title, the PL Player of the Season award, the Golden Boot and matched the record of 47 goals and assists in a single Premier League campaign.

While they fell short in the Carabao Cup and the UCL, his 60 goal involvements in all competitions cannot be overlooked.

Nor can his role in leading this Liverpool side to the Premier League title once again.

It’s hard to imagine how many Ballon D’Ors Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo would have won during the 2010 period if they were judged purely on the UCL and International performances, and not their exceptionally superior individual quality.

PSG no doubt deserve their plaudits, but their UCL title shouldn’t overshadow the individual performances of some of football’s finest stars.

Ousmane Dembele is a crucial cog in Luis Enrique’s cohesive team, but he is not the best footballer in the world.

Recency bias looks set to strike again.

Let’s save the team awards for the best teams, and the individual awards for the best individuals.