Karim Benzema and Alexia Putellas win the Ballon d’Or

• The Ballon d’Or was awarded this week.
• Karim Benzema was the winner for the men.
• Spanish player Alexia Putellas won the women’s trophy.

Karim Benzema won his first Ballon d’Or on Monday after a brilliant season with Real Madrid in which he was decisive in winning the double title in the Spanish League and the Champions League.

Spanish midfielder Alexia Putellas won the women’s trophy for the second consecutive year after another sensational season with Barcelona. Benzema sculpted his best season as a Madrid player. The French striker was the top scorer in the domestic tournament, as well as in the most important club competition in the world.

He signed 44 goals with the merengue team, 15 in the European Cup, which tied Raúl González as the club’s second highest scorer, 123 behind Cristiano Ronaldo. At 34 years old, Benzema is the oldest winner since the first in 1956, Englishman Stanley Matthews.

«Age is just a number for me,» said Benzema at the ceremony held at the Chatelet Theater in Paris. “Players can now prolong their careers much longer and I remain fervently motivated. It is what stimulates me to continue and that does not allow me to loosen up.”

Karim Benzema played phenomenally this year

He beat Senegalese striker Sadio Mané and Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City in the international journalists’ vote. Mané played last season with Liverpool and joined the German champion Bayern Munich in the European summer.

«I am very proud. I remember when I was a kid, all the incessant work. It was a dream,» said Benzema. «I’ve always had it in my head.» Benzema succeeded Lionel Messi, who took the award for the seventh time last year to add to his record collection. But the Argentine star didn’t even make the shortlist this year after a disappointing first season with Paris Saint-Germain.

The Ballon d’Or

Awarded by France Football magazine, the Ballon d’Or was first awarded to the best male footballer in 1956. The women’s trophy was created in 2018. They were not distributed in 2020 due to the pandemic. For the first time this year, the Ballon d’Or was valued with the achievements of last season. In the past, it was awarded on the basis of benefits over the course of a year.

Benzema is the fifth Frenchman to receive it, emulating Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin and Zinedine Zidane, who was crowned in 1998 after France won its first World Cup.

The story of Karim Benzema

The Associated Press reports that Karim Benzema was not part of the French team that became world champions in Russia in 2018, but he should be one of the leaders of the team that will play the tournament that will start in Qatar next month.

Nearly six years after being implicated in an attempted sex tape extortion scandal, Benzema returned to the national team when he was called up by coach Didier Deschamps ahead of the European Championships last year. «There was a period when I wasn’t in the national team, but I kept working with that dream in mind: To play football as well as possible and try to win this trophy,» Benzema said in his speech. “This is the first time I have won this trophy. I am very happy and I will continue working.”

Alexia Putellas wins for the women

Spearheading an attack that also includes Brazilians Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, Benzema was key in Madrid lifting their record 14th European Cup. He was also the fifth since arriving from Lyon in 2009. He was the tournament’s top scorer and pierced the nets in the most decisive moments — 10 of his goals came in the knockout stage.

Putellas scored 42 goals and provided 22 assists last season and became the first woman to receive the trophy twice. As captain of Barça, Putellas established herself in the Spanish League and reached the Champions League final. Putellas beat England’s Beth Mead (Arsenal) and Australia’s Sam Kerr (Chelsea). “I am very happy to be here again,” Putellas said. «A year ago, when I won the first, I decided to improve to put it at the service of the team and this has been rewarded by being here again. I hope that the next time I have to speak it will be on the filed, where I like it the most,» she added, referring to the anterior cruciate ligament injury that prevented her from playing in the European Championship last summer.

A gala that will go down in history

In other awards, the Kopa trophy for the best U21 player went to Gavi, the 18-year-old Spanish midfielder who stands out with Barcelona. Pole Robert Lewandowski won the Gerd Müller award for the best striker who was transferred from Bayern Munich to Barcelona during the summer.

The Lev Yashin Award for the best was won by the Belgian Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid. Ballon d’Or organizers added a humanitarian award named after the late Brazilian midfielder Socrates. The winner was Mané for his charitable work in Senegal, including building a hospital and donating to schools.