Liverpool were not represented by any players currently at the club during Monday night’s Ballon d’Or ceremony.
There was huge controversy over the occasion, with Real Madrid strongly feeling that Vinicius Jnr should have beaten Man City’s Rodri to the top award.
In reality, Vinicius perhaps did not do enough to win the most prestigious individual trophy in the game and Rodri was a deserved winner.
From a Liverpool point of view, though, this will matter little. The Reds have had a fair few players nominated over recent years and will perhaps have been disappointed not to have done so again after a decent season last time out.
Technically, there was one member of the Liverpool squad present in Paris on Monday, though.
Giorgi Mamardashvili was up for the Yacine Trophy, which recognises the best goalkeeper over the course of a season. Although he lost out to Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez, Mamardashvili still earned himself a good finish.
Giorgi Mamardashvili places in top ten
Mamardashvili has shown himself to be a really capable goalkeeper over the last year or so.
A good season with Valencia led to an especially strong Euro 2024 playing for Georgia. Liverpool came calling.
As a result, it was not a surprise to see the 24-year-old named as one of the ten contenders to win the Yacine Trophy.
Ultimately, it was never going to be enough to win it, though. Martinez is a media darling having won another trophy with Lionel Messi’s Argentina over the summer.
READ MORE: Liverpool are ‘not ruling out’ plan for Giorgi Mamardashvili next season
In the end that got the 31-year-old over the line for a second consecutive Yacine Trophy win.
Mamardashvili ended the voting in seventh place, sandwiched between Yann Sommer of Inter in sixth and Porto’s Diogo Costa in eighth.
With Alisson Becker missing out on a nomination altogether, this is a another small nod towards the battle the Brazilian will have on his hands with Mamardashvili around next season.
Giorgi Mamardashvili makes stunning double save
Although the Ballon d’Or voting was closed long before this weekend, Mamardashvili underlined his credential for the Yacine Trophy only on Sunday.
As Liverpool were playing Arsenal in a big game in the Premier League, the Georgian ‘keeper headed for a date with Getafe for Valencia.
And as seen in a clip from Premier Sports, Mamardashvili was the difference between his team losing and drawing the game.
The giant goalie pulled off a miraculous double save to keep the scores level at 1-1 late in the match.
If he keeps up this kind of form, Mamardashvili may well find himself in this same top ten in 12 months’ time. A certain Mr Becker had better be there, too.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
