Ballon d'Or: Why are PSG and Real Madrid not there?

The world's best football player will be crowned at tonight's Ballon d'Or - however, two teams will not be in attendance.

Paris St-Germain will not be at the awards event as the Ligue 1 side will be playing a rescheduled match on Monday evening.

The Champions League winners were due to play away at Marseille on Sunday, 21 September - but the match was postponed because of storms expected in the region.

Nine PSG players have been nominated this year.

Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Joao Neves are likely to be at the Theatre du Chatelet as they continue to recover from injuries.

Nominees Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nuno Mendes, Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha will not be attending as they have been named in Paris St-Germain's unchanged squad for the 'Le Classique'.

Real Madrid will not be at the Ballon d'Or for the second year in a row.

They were absent from last year's ceremony, when forward Vinicius Junior was beaten to best men's player by Manchester City's Rodri.

The reason for this year's absence could be down to scheduling - Real face Levante away in the La Liga on Tuesday evening.

In 2024, the team won club of the year and then-manager Carlo Ancelotti won the men's coach award.

Three Real players have been nominated this year: Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior.

Mbappe told reporters after Real's Champions League win over Marseille that he would be watching the Ballon d'Or on the TV.

He added that he hopes France team-mate Dembele wins the prestigious award.

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