A "folha d’ouro": Éderson claims the 2024/25 Goal of the Season laurel!

What better way to wrap up another unforgettable season than with a grand finale worthy of the most dazzling fireworks?

After three weeks of Hamlet-like dilemmas and heated showdowns, the moment we've all been waiting for is finally arrived: as the curtain falls to thundersous applause, it's none other than Éderson dos Santos who puts the excalamation mark on the 2024/25 campaign, pulling a rabbit out of the hat to claim it all.

Indeed it's the Carioca 4wd, already crowned Goal MVP in both January and April, to come out on top as the rightful winner of June's gauntlet.

Now it's time to rewind the tape and retrace the journey that brought us here: starting from the foundations of the bracket, whether you look at it from the left or the right, we'll climb our way up to the summit, without overlooking the third-place playoff, mapping out the Road to the Fjnal for the two contenders to the crown.

Ready, set, go: ropes on shoulders and carabiners tightly clipped, because the climb to the title is on. Our Nerazzurri sherpas are already up the mountain… now all that’s left is to follow them, step by step, to the top.

As always, before diving into the full breakdown of our four finalists, here are the all-important “exit polls” (in brackets, the percentage of votes received):

Winner: Éderson dos Santos, Barcelona 2-2 Atalanta, 2024/25 UEFA Champions League League Phase MD8 (53%)

Runner-up: Lazar Samardžić, Young Boys 1-6 Atalanta, 2024/25 UEFA Champions League League Phase MD5 (47%)

Third Place Play-off

3rd place: Charles de Ketelaere, Atalanta 6-1 Hellas Verona, 2024/25 Serie A Enilive MD9 (80%)

4th Place: Charles de Ketelaere, Atalanta 3-2 Empoli 2024/25 Serie A Enilive MD17 (20%)

Road to the Final: Lazar Samardžić

Lazar Samardžić’s march to glory kicked off with a bang. In the opening round, he was pitted against no less than Mateo Retegui’s “cucharita in the lagoon” (bronze medalist from the October contest), with Laki breezing through with a resounding 77% of the votes.

Come the quarter-finals, and things got serious. It was a clash fit for the Champions League spotlight and not just for the quality of the goals, but for the iconic stage where they unfolded. Across the metaphorical ring stood Ademola Lookman’s thunderbolt against Real Madrid, the winner from December, facing his predecessor in the GOTM's Golden Book and with Samardžić narrowly prevailing with 63% in the the battle of MVPs.

December once again proved to be the launchpad for the final, as Samardžić went toe-to-toe in a heart-stopping semi with another standout: Charles De Ketelaere’s goal in the Christmas Match against Empoli, the runner-up of the last contest of 2024.

With a whopping 74% of the votes in the final showdown, Samardžić clinched his golden ticket to the ultimate bout as the undisputed star of the left side of the bracket!

Road to the final: Éderson dos Santos

In tracing Éderson’s climb toward the all-or-nothing battle for the crown, striking parallels emerge between his path and that of his final opponent. Though placed on opposite ends of the bracket (not just graphically), the two shared a common thread that began right from the opening round. Just like Samardžić, Atalanta’s No. 13 had to get past Mateo Retegui at the first hurdle, this time in his August Player of the Month version. It was a clash that saw the Brazilian impose himself with authority, earning a landslide 87% of the vote.

The second point of symmetry came in the quarter-finals. There, too, Éderson faced an opponent with symbolic “season-ending” weight: while on the opposite side, Samardžić was facing off against the final MVP of 2024, the Brazilian had to square off against Sulemana, winner of May’s Goal of the Month and the final GOTM of the year. In this mirrored showdown, Éderson once again let the strength of his strike do the talking, advancing with 79% of the vote.

The third and final parallel in the journey of these two finalists? None other than a familiar name: Charles De Ketelaere. Just as Samardžić had to overcome the Belgian’s brilliance in the semi-finals, so too did Éderson, this time facing CDK’s goal against Hellas Verona. And once again, the Brazilian stood tall, edging through with 56% of the vote to claim his place in the final act.

Third-Place Playoff

Mirror-match: that was the setup for the bronze medal clash, a rare twist where Charles De Ketelaere found himself battling... Charles De Ketelaere. A personal Kramer vs. Kramer, reimagined in football boots, played out on Saturday the 29th.

Fighting for the last step of the podium were the two highest-scoring runner-ups from either side of the bracket: on one side, CDK’s decisive goal against Empoli; on the other, the magician’s touch he pulled off against Verona, a strike that also earned him October’s Goal of the Month award.

Two sides of the same coin, but only one could land face-up.

4th Place: Charles de Ketelaere, Atalanta 3-2 Empoli, 2024-2025 Serie A Enilive MD17

Before diving into the tale of the 2024/25 Goal of the Season's Wooden Spoon, it's worth retracing the journey that brought one of Charles De Ketelaere’s standout strikes to the third-place playoff.

The Belgian's run began in the RO16, where he edged out March's GOTM winner Davide Zappacosta with a narrow 55% of the vote. The quarterfinals brought another tight affair as CDK vanquished Éderson’s goal versus Hellas Verona, also in the running for March’s top honour, thanks to a slim 56%. His campaign came to a halt in the semi-finals, undone by the creativity and cool execution of Lazar Samardžić...

But now, to the goal itself! Fourth place overall goes to the strike that completed Atalanta's comeback in the 2024 Christmas Match. Atalanta 2-2 Empoli, 84th minute: the Nerazzurri's siege is in full swing as tstoppage time approaches. The misison is clear: complete the counter-counter-rally and deliver a tenth consecutive league win in front of the Gewiss Stadium crowd, dressed for the occasion.

Pašalić threads a ball through to De Ketelaere, who muscles through contact with Cacace. One step, then another, and another, as the Tuscan defence tightens like a vice: Anjorin and Ismajli close every angle, the window is disappearing fast.

But just then, CDK shuffles the deck: a left-footed strike, laser-sharp, into the one spot Vasquez can’t reach.

3rd Place: Charles de Ketelaere, Atalanta 6-1 Hellas Verona, 2024-2025 Serie A Enilive MD9

Mutatis mutandis, and shifting from the right side of the bracket to the left, it’s time to recount the journey of Charles De Ketelaere’s other masterpiece, the goal that earned him the bronze medal in the head-to-head that lit up social media between Saturday and Sunday.

After cruising past Bonanomi in the opening round with a landslide 83%, Atalanta’s No. 17 accepted the challenge laid down by Ademola Lookman, whose goal had triumphed in the February contest. Once again, the Belgian struck the right chord with the Nerazzurri faithful, overcoming his teammate and flying into the semifinals with 74% of the vote.

The goal scored against Hellas Verona is a jewel of rare craftsmanship: a seamless fusion of power, elegance, and surgical precision. It all begins with a solo move, sculpted with elegance. Starting from a wide position and under close marking, the Belgian drifts into the box with feather-light footwork, unsettling the Verona defence with a graceful dance of feints. Then, like a magician timing his reveal to perfection, he halts, sets himself, and unleashes a left-footed strike from a standstill, curling the ball into the top corner, just inside the far post.

A masterstroke, elevated by regal composure: a single, sublime brushstroke that captures the full class of Charles De Ketelaere.

Éderson vs. Samardžić: the final

And after the third-place playoff, the decisive tie-break for the Goal of the Season took centre stage.

A contest that held fans in suspense until the very last point, played out between Sunday and Monday. In the end, it was the public who delivered the final “15”, crowning the winner in a dramatic five-set Slam finale.

On the virtual Centre Court, the GOTS script brought to life a true dialectical clash, not just between two midfielders, but pitting two opposing schools of thought against each other, both in football philosophy and in the art of scoring goals.

Two players, mirror images and yet perfectly complementary, squared off from opposite sides of the court.

On the right side, the raw power, physical presence, and vertical drive of Éderson: a baseline specialist whose style is all about progression and impact.

On the left, the refined left foot of Lazar Samardžić: a master of the backhand, a virtuoso of delicate touch.

Runner-up: Lazar Samardžić, Young Boys 1-6 Atalanta, 2024/25 UEFA Champions League League Phase MD5

And now we come to the silver medal of the 2024 GOTS: Lazar Samardžić! With his first solo strike in the UEFA Champions League, and also the best goal of the UCL's League Phase MD5, Laki claims the runner-up spot in Atalanta’s goal Oscars thanks to a wondergoal born from a solo move that embodies footballing aesthetics in their purest form, blending the suspension of disbelief worthy of a triple-A video game with the meticulous craftsmanship of a high-jewelry masterpiece, set on the most prestigious stage in European football.

The strike that made it 6-1 on that night in Bern is a distillation of all the flair possessed by Atalanta’s number 24: a burst down the right wing, a slalom of tight dribbles that left three defenders wrong-footed with five silky touches, all with the sole, a nutmeg to set up the shot, and a billiard-like finish at the near post.
A goal of sheer elegance: the essence of exquisite technique, flawless execution, and lightning speed, all packed into seven seconds of pure wonder.

Winner: Éderson dos Santos, Barcelona 2-2 Atalanta, 2024/25 UEFA Champions League League Phase MD8

Standing ovation for the author of the Goal of the Season 2024/25: Éderson dos Santos!
A goal, the momentary 1-1 equaliser for Atalanta, that marked the peak of the treze’s performance on Iberian soil and earned him the most coveted laurel of the season’s grand stage. On a night to frame, Éderson combined the usual pars destruens of his game with a moment of rare inspiration, taking the reins of the play and delivering a masterpiece: as decisive in the context of the match as it was refined in its technical execution.

An oriented control from thirty metres out, followed by a lightning-quick dribble and counter-dribble, disorienting Gavi with a croqueta to carve open a gap in the final third. After dismantling the Blaugrana defence, the Brazilian etched his mark and completed the breach at the Companys with a folha seca from his right foot, a dipping strike that curled into the bottom corner, unreachable for Szczęsny, restoring (for the first time) parity in the Ciudad Condal!