Champions League: Guirassy responds to Lookman ahead of the CAF Awards

Serhou Guirassy and Ademola Lookman remain neck and neck. In their last Champions League outing before Monday's CAF Awards ceremony in Morocco, the two favourites for African Player of the Year did not disappoint.

Guirassy and Lookman on the final straight

The race for the 2024 African Ballon d'Or has never been so heated. With the CAF Awards ceremony in Morocco only days away, the two outright favourites for the "Player of the Year" prize are in sparkling form. On Tuesday, Ademola Lookman sent Guirassy a strong message with a superb goal against Thibaut Courtois and a "Man of the Match" award, despite Atalanta Bergamo's 2-3 defeat by Real Madrid.

On Wednesday, the Guinean had the chance to respond to the Super Eagle, and he took it. Serhou Guirassy passed the test with flying colours, scoring twice against Barça, the first from the penalty spot on the hour (60th minute) and the second in the 78th. Even though it was not enough to avoid a 2-3 defeat for Borussia Dortmund, the 29-year-old now has 6 goals and 2 assists in 6 Champions League games this season, underlining his status as an established player and a credible candidate for the African Ballon d'Or. But it is far from a done deal.

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Who will win the 2024 African Ballon d'Or?

It is the big unknown right now. While the finalists are already known, everyone agrees that Serhou Guirassy and Ademola Lookman are the two big favourites to succeed Victor Osimhen. Last season, the Guinean finished as the Bundesliga's second-top scorer with 28 goals in 28 games (30 goals and 3 assists in 30 games in all competitions). This season, he already has 10 goals and 4 assists in 16 appearances in all competitions. But his mixed 2023 AFCON earlier this year with Guinea in Ivory Coast, hampered by an injury, could count against him.

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By contrast, Lookman shone at the Africa Cup of Nations with 3 goals and an assist in 7 games, ending up on the losing side in the final with Nigeria, who were beaten by Ivory Coast. But the former Fulham man also had a fine 2023-2024 season with Atalanta, scoring 17 goals and providing 10 assists in 45 games in all competitions. His hat-trick in the Europa League final, which gave his side the trophy at the expense of Bayer Leverkusen, is still fresh in the memory. This season, Lookman already has 11 goals and 5 assists in 18 games in all competitions. Similar numbers that surely have not made life easy for the CAF jurors, even though voting closed on 10 November.