The French striker capped off a remarkable 2021-2022 season as LaLiga and Champions League champion with Real Madrid. Moreover, in both contests he was the top scorer. He is the main contender for the France Football prize, which will be awarded in October. Personalities like Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi are already postulating it.
The Champions League title was the perfect corollary to Real Madrid’s season and also for someone in particular: Karim Benzema. Without the omnipresence of Cristiano Ronaldo in the White House, the French striker gradually became the figure of the team, the most decisive attacking footballer in the meringues. From companion of CR7, he is today the badge of the most powerful club in the world, champion of Spain and Europe.
“It means a lot (the Champions League title), with Madrid, my club, the best team in the world. In France, my country. It is very important to me. Very proud, “said the footballer, once the consecration completed at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. “We are very happy, proud of this team. We won the League and now the Champions League, we are the best again.” he added. Saturday May 28, against Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool, Benzema won his fifth European Cup: 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022. All with the Madrid jersey.
“It was a very difficult campaign and we deserve the final. It was very nice, a very difficult game, but the Champions League is difficult. In the end, we show that we are alive, that we are here and that we have won” Benzema added.
He wasn’t just a champion of Champions. El Gato also established himself as the top scorer of this edition, with 15 goals. The added value of this is that Benzema converted in the knockout stages, against lineage rivals: PSG in the round of 16, Chelsea in the quarter-finals and Manchester City in the semi-finals. In the Gunners standings, he was followed by Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), with 13, Sebastien Haller (Ajax), with 11, and Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), with eight. Adding assists, the 9 merengue was the player with the most goals in the 2021-2022 Champions League, with 17. He had one more than the Pole Lewandowski, on whose horizon appears Barcelona, if it is part of Bavarian territory.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team also won at national level. With 86 points, 13 more than Barcelona, Real Madrid were La Liga champions, with Benzema as the star. He scored 27 goals, finishing as the Pichichi of the Championship. The one who followed him on the list is Iago Aspas, from Celta de Vigo, with 18. Then came Vinícius, his partner, and the Hispanic Raúl de Tomás, from Espanyol, both with 17. To this he should be added that Gato contributed with 12 assists. In this item, he was only beaten by his compatriot Ousmane Dembélé, with 13.
Ballon d’Or
After his remarkable season, the option for Karim Benzema to be the next Ballon d’Or is becoming more and more important. His goals and successes both in the Spanish league and at continental level, in addition to being French, for an event organized by France Football, leave the striker in the pole position.
The one who has already proven himself is Thierry Henry, former Arsenal striker and French football reference, who has become a commentator for the North American channel CBS. After the final, the legendary Gunners gunner said: “I just wanted to say something to France Football or whoever is voting. Closing of the votes, the Ballon d’Or has been won by Benzema. Farewell!”. Lionel Messi himself did the same, applying for the striker with Algerian roots. “I think there’s no doubt this year,” the chip said.
On Friday August 12, the nominees for the Ballon d’Or will be announced, while the awards ceremony will take place on Monday October 17.
At the end of the year, a major objective presents itself for Benzema: the World Cup in Qatar. For reasons unrelated to sport, he was excluded from Russia 2018, a meeting in which Blues They lifted the trophy. In this team of Didier Deschamps, there was a paradox: the starting center-forward, Olivier Giroud, did not score. Today, with Benzema already integrated into the team, France acquires an additional weight in attack, adding the presences of Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann. At the start of the Nations League, the striker scored a superb goal in the fall against Denmark. The cat walks with a good aim.
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Source: Latercera
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
