Can Karim Benzema be the first “new look” Ballon d’Or?

“It’s a goal. Especially since last year I was not far away, but I hadn’t won a trophy (in club). There, I am having a very good seasonsupports the French international. The Ballon d’Or is a motivation, but not only personal. I include the team. Because if I manage to take my team to win trophies, there will inevitably be individual rewards behind it..” In terms of trophies, Real Madrid have started extremely well in La Liga with a 12-point lead over Barça (and one game more), Atlético de Madrid and Sevilla FC.

Will the Champions League crown the Ballon d’Or?

Over one season, the 2021-2022 therefore, with the only major international competition the African Cup of Nations won by Sadio Mangé and Senegal, the Champions League will obviously have a dominating share. Qualified miraculous against Paris Saint-Germain with, it should be remembered, a very great Benzema, author of a hat-trick in the return (1-3), Real must challenge Chelsea in the quarter-finals. An open match against a “very good team” but without a favorite according to “KB9”. And when it is explained to him that Real is not one of the teams naturally cited among the contenders for the final crown, the striker pretends not to understand.

“I don’t see it that way at all, he said. I watch the matches. Manchester City, their objective is to keep the ball and make a long possession in the opposing camp. But they haven’t yet fallen against a team that is attacking them well behind the back… Liverpool, it’s the same, they are very good but above all at home, with their supporters and their individualities. Bayern is a team that scores goals but also concedes a lot.“A C1-Liga double would for sure propel Benzema very high in the list of favorites for the Ballon d’Or.

But winning trophies with his club will no longer be the determining criterion, if indeed it was still in recent years, if we are to believe Pascal Ferré, editor-in-chief of France Football. “The individual performances and the decisive and impressive character of the contenders will be the number 1 criterion. The collective aspect, the trophies won and the player’s class and his sense of fair play will now be considered as secondary criteria“, he assured at the time of the announcement of the reform. In this game, Benzema has arguments to make.

Lewandowski and Mbappé, opponents of Benzema?

Decisive, Benzema is for sure. In 2021-2022, he already has 34 goals and 13 assists in 35 matches in all competitions. Involved in 47 Real achievements, the Frenchman is only beaten by the inevitable Robert Lewandowski (45 goals and 4 assists) and Kylian Mbappé (28 and 20). For the latter, the C1 is no longer an objective but it perfectly meets the criterion “decisive and impressive“. For the first, the situation resembles that of Benzema, namely a comfortable lead in the league (9 points over Dortmund) and a quarter-final to play in C1. Bluffed for some on the 2021 edition, Lewandowski will leave Does it have the advantage of someone you want to reward after a huge disappointment?

For his part, Benzema will undoubtedly have the support of Real, the kingmaker club in terms of the Ballon d’Or (11 coronations). He also has it for him to be more than a scorer and to give the impression that the White House would collapse without him, which the slap received against Barça in the last Clasico in a way confirmed (0 -4). Since Bayern and Real are not in the same part of the table in C1, the confrontation could only take place in the final. With the key, perhaps a double challenge: collective for the two formations, individual for Benzema and Lewandowski.