Eberl's Ballon d'Or Insights on Yamal and Olise

Bayern Munich’s 7-0 rout of Union Berlin didn’t just inflate the scoreline. It lit up the Ballon d’Or debate.

In the mixed zone after the game, sporting director Max Eberl was asked about recent comments from Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal on what should decide the award. The Bayern chief didn’t name him directly, but the response landed like a well-aimed jab.

“The best players are those who do not need a promotional campaign,” Eberl said, a line that cut straight through the growing noise around the race for world football’s top individual prize.

Yamal had laid out his stance in an interview with “Movistar Plus”, arguing that the Ballon d’Or must go to “the best player in the world, nothing more,” and not simply to the man with the most goals. “If you score 80 goals you win the award for top scorer of the year,” the Barcelona star said. “The two things are completely different, and people don’t understand that.”

Those remarks were widely interpreted as a swipe at the way Bayern figures often lean on Harry Kane’s goal numbers when pushing his case. Eberl chose not to enter a direct war of words with the teenager, but his message was clear: the truly elite don’t need PR.

The night’s hat-trick hero gave him the perfect example.

With Union Berlin torn apart at the Allianz Arena, Michael Olise produced a dazzling display capped by three goals. Eberl wasted no time putting his own man into the global conversation.

“For me, Michael Olise is also a candidate for the Ballon d’Or. He is one of the best players in the world,” he declared, using the momentum of a 7-0 hammering to elevate the Frenchman into the same bracket as the sport’s biggest names.

The subtext was hard to miss. While Yamal argues against a numbers-only view of the prize, Bayern’s hierarchy are pushing a different narrative: perform on the biggest stages, decide games, and the rest should take care of itself — without media campaigns or carefully crafted messaging.

The Ballon d’Or debate will rage on all season. On this evidence, though, Bayern intend to be right in the thick of it, with more than one name on their ticket.