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In a ceremony held at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France, Real Madrid captain Karim Benzema received the first Ballon d’Or award in recognition of his career-best performance in the 2021–2022 season.
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On Monday, Benzema emerged as a clear favorite for the top prize after leading the Spanish powerhouses to a LaLiga and UEFA Champions League double last season.
A new structure saw the Ballon d’Or awarded based on performances across a normal season for the first time before to a November–December FIFA World Cup.
It used to be more spread out throughout the year.
In any scenario, France international Karim Benzema would have been a front-runner.
He did, however, come out on top after scoring 44 goals in 46 games to win a sixth European championship in the 2021–2022 season.
10 of Benzema’s goals came in the Champions League knockout stages, even though Robert Lewandowski (50), then of Bayern Munich and now of FC Barcelona, had a higher total.
He equaled a single-season mark set by Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, in the championship game versus Liverpool, Vinicius Junior scored the game-winning goal.
However, Benzema had already proven to be the best player in the world with hat-tricks against Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
Last season, Benzema contributed to 59 goals, adding 15 assists, narrowly falling short of Kylian Mbappe’s record-breaking 60 goals across all of Europe (39 goals, 21 assists).
Remember that Benzema had received 10 prior Ballon d’Or nominations, but he didn’t make the top 10 until 2021.
He came in fourth place as Lionel Messi, who was not nominated this year, won his eighth trophy.
