Ballon d'Or: Juventus player hails two Flamengo stars at awards ceremony | OneFootball

At an event held this Monday (22), Kenan Yıldız mentioned Danilo and Alex Sandro

The magazine France Football held the ‘Ballon d'Or’ award ceremony this Monday (22), with Ousmane Dembélé from PSG (FRA) crowned as the winner. During the event, Turkish player Kenan Yıldız, from Juventus (ITA), praised two players from the current Flamengo squad.

🔗 Instagram

In an interview with ‘TNT Brasil’, Yıldız was asked if he has any inspiration from Brazil. In his response, the athlete mentioned his former Juventus teammates. “Yes, I have many friends in Brazil, the former Juventus players, like Danilo and Alex Sandro. I have many friends, good friends,” he said.

WHEN DID YILDIZ PLAY WITH DANILO AND ALEX SANDRO?

Yıldız has played for Juventus’ professional team since the 2023/24 season. Therefore, he shared the locker room with Danilo and Alex Sandro. The defender left the Turin club in 2025, while the full-back signed with Flamengo a year earlier, in 2024.

HOW WAS THE BALLON D’OR AWARD?

With Yıldız in the audience, the Ballon d'Or crowned Dembélé, the Frenchman from PSG. In second place was Lamine Yamal, the Spaniard from Barcelona (ESP). Completing the podium was the Portuguese player Vitinha, from PSG. The best Brazilian was Raphinha, from Barça, in fifth. Flamengo youth product Vini Jr, from Real Madrid (ESP), finished in 16th place.

DO DANILO AND ALEX SANDRO PLAY AGAINST ESTUDIANTES?

Mentioned by Yıldız, Danilo and Alex Sandro are experiencing different moments. While the defender started in two of Flamengo’s last three matches this season, the full-back has not played for a month due to physical problems.

However, Alex Sandro has recovered and was on the bench against Vasco, on Sunday (21), for the Brasileirão. Therefore, both former Juventus players are available to coach Filipe Luís for this Thursday’s (25) match against Estudiantes (ARG), in the second leg of the quarterfinals.

The ball gets rolling at 9:30 PM (Brasília time), at La Plata, with coverage by ESPN on cable TV and Disney Plus via streaming. However, Coluna do Fla provides the best coverage of the match, on the website, social media, and YouTube.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.