Tuesday’s briefing: Ousmane Dembele and Aitana Bonmati win Ballon d’Or awards

Ousmane Dembele and Aitana Bonmati are celebrating their respective Ballon d’Or victories after a glittering ceremony in Paris.

Tributes continue to be paid to former Liverpool women’s coach Matt Beard, with his former club planning to pay their respects prior to Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup game against Southampton.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has conceded that Liverpool may be impossible to stop in their quest for another Premier League title, while Bernardo Silva is raging over the perceived injustice of Manchester City’s fixture schedule.

Dembele and Bonmati crowned world’s best players

Ousmane Dembele and Aitana Bonmati took top honours at the Ballon d’Or awards after being crowned the best men’s and women’s players.

Dembele, the favourite to win, beat Lamine Yamal into second place after helping Paris St Germain complete the treble in 2024-25, a haul that included Champions League glory.

The 28-year-old France midfielder was able to attend the awards ceremony in Paris even though PSG were playing Marseille on Monday night because of a hamstring injury.

Bonmati made Ballon d’Or history by becoming the first woman to win the award three times in a row.

Sarina Wiegman won the Johan Cruyff Trophy for best women’s coach after masterminding England’s Euro 2025 success, while Hannah Hampton was named best women’s goalkeeper in the world.

Liverpool rivals face “impossible” job

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca fears it could be “impossible” for any team to stop Liverpool from retaining their Premier League crown.

Arne Slot’s champions have already established a five-point cushion at the top of the table following an unblemished start to their title defence.

After a 2-2 draw at Brentford, and then a 2-1 defeat at Manchester United, Chelsea are already seven points off the championship pace.

Maresca admitted: “If they continue in this way I think it is impossible to catch them, not just for us, but for all the clubs.

“They have been doing a fantastic job since last year, and the players they have decided to buy shows the intention of the club to go again for the Premier League and the Champions League, and that is quite clear.”

Liverpool to pay tribute to Beard

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has promised the club will show their respect and appreciation to “great human being” Matt Beard following the death of their former women’s team boss at the weekend.

The men’s team will honour the 47-year-old, who had two successful spells at the club, on Tuesday ahead of the Carabao Cup third-round tie at home to Southampton.

Sunday’s Women’s Super League game against Aston Villa was postponed, as was another former club Burnley’s National League fixture against West Brom, and all women’s top-flight matches held a minute’s silence.

“It’s very important for us to pay tribute, for what he meant for this football club,” Slot told liverpoolfc.com.

“This football club is not only the men’s team, it’s also the women’s team and he had an enormous impact on women’s football here with Liverpool.”

Silva slams fixture schedule after City draw

Furious Manchester City star Bernardo Silva has claimed Arsenal were handed an unfair advantage following their 1-1 draw against his side on Sunday.

City kicked off their Premier League clash against rivals Arsenal at the Emirates just 66 hours after the conclusion of their Champions League win over 10-man Napoli at the Etihad.

The Gunners – who started their European campaign two days earlier in Bilbao – snatched a point in the third minute of injury time when Gabriel Martinelli cancelled out Erling Haaland’s opener.

Silva said: “The reality is we cannot come in to one of the most important games in the season with such a disadvantage, in terms of rest.

“It is not fair to play one of these games like this. It is just not right. They had five days (to recover), and we had two and a half days. In one of the most important games, this cannot happen.”

What’s on tomorrow

Attention shifts back to the Carabao Cup with Liverpool hosting Southampton at Anfield while Chelsea face a tricky trip to in-form League One side Lincoln. In the Scottish Premiership, Aberdeen seek their first win at Dundee United, while Falkirk face Hibernian.