Stars from Chelsea’s men’s and women’s teams came together at Stamford Bridge last night to celebrate as the Blues were crowned Club of the Year at the Ballon d’Or awards.
Last season, Chelsea became the first club to have their men’s and women’s teams reach the final of the Champions League in the same campaign, Thomas Tuchel’s side lifting the trophy while Emma Hayes’ outfit finished runners-up to Barcelona.
Tuchel and Hayes were joined by players from both teams for a dinner at the Bridge as they tuned in to the ceremony in Paris virtually.
The likes of Romelu Lukaku, Jorginho, Mason Mount, Cesar Azpilicueta and Edouard Mendy - all nominated for awards - were unable to travel to France ahead of Wednesday night’s Premier League meeting with Watford, but donned their tuxedos to watch as Lionel Messi claimed a seventh Ballon d’Or. The majority of Chelsea’s women are away on international duty but Danish forward Pernille Harder was in attendance at the Bridge.
As well as their collective prize, it was a good night for Chelsea on the individual front, with Jorginho and Australian striker Sam Kerr finishing third in the voting for the men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or, respectively. In all, Chelsea had four players in the top ten for the women’s award, with Harder finishing seventh, Jessie Fleming ninth and Fran Kirby tenth.
After Jorginho, N’Golo Kante was Chelsea’s the next highest ranked men’s player in fifth, with Lukaku 12th, Mount 19th and club captain Azpilicueta joint-29th.
Mendy, meanwhile, finished second to Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the vote for the Yashin Trophy, recognising the best goalkeeper of the year.
