Karim Benzema has won the Ballon d’Or for the first time after enjoying the best year of his career at Real Madrid!
The French striker was in stunning form in the 2021/22 season, guiding Los Blancos to both national and continental glory.
Benzema scored 44 goals and 15 assists for Madrid in 46 games in all competitions, averaging a goal every 66.4 minutes as the club lifted La Liga and another Champions League trophy.
Most notably, his form in the Champions League has made him a worthy winner of the 2022 Ballon d’Or. The 34-year-old has scored 15 goals in this competition alone, ten of them in the knockout stages alone.
Highlights of this Champions League campaign included Benzema’s remarkable hat-trick against PSG, which gave his side a miraculous comeback win, and some key goals against Manchester City in the semi-finals.
Benzema is the first French player to win the Ballon d’Or since Zinedine Zidane in 1998 and the fifth French winner overall – after Zidane, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin and Raymond Kopa.
This article was originally published on 90min.com as Karim Benzema wins Ballon d’Or 2022.
