Messi: 'Benzema deserved his Ballon d'Or'

As we approach the 2023 Ballon d‘Or awards, the anticipation is rising. The ceremony will take place on October 30 at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France and there will be a new best footballer of the year. Last season, the winner was Karim Benzema, but this time, the hot favorite is Lionel Messi. The seven time winner has taken the advantage of the rule change, which says that the results achieved during the calendar year will not be taken into account, but rather the whole season, and he won World Cup with Argentina. His main opponent this time around is Erling Haaland, who won treble won with Manchester City. Karim Benzema on the other hand is on the shortlist (unlike Cristiano Ronaldo for example), but he won‘t get the reward.

Still, that didn‘t stop the Argentinian captain do give full credit to Benzema for last year‘s best player award.

"Benzema really deserved it for the great season he had and for his entire career. He is a wonderful player. This award is important for him and for football“ said Messi in the documentary "Ballon d'or 2022: the race towards eternity", which is due to be broadcasted this Monday evening on the Channel L'Équipe.

Ronaldo out of the Ballon d'or race for the first time in 20 years

The 2022 winner became the fifth Frenchman to win the award, and the first since Zinedine Zidane in 1998. Fittingly, it was Zidane who presented him the trophy in Paris. And that obviously means a lot to ZiZou.

"Very few of us have had it in France. It enters a closed circle and it will remain in people's memories for a long time. It's good to say that at least once we have this Ballon d' gold. It represents being the best player in the world for a year. It’s still not nothing“ said Benzema‘s former coach.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Group stage - matchday 3

Tuesday

19.45: (1.33) Inter (5.70) Salzburg (10.5)

19.45: (8.00) Galatasaray (4.80) Bayern (1.45)

22.00: (1.40) Man.Utd. (5.00) Copenhagen (9.00)

22.00: (4.00) Union Berlin (3.60) Napoli (2.00)

22.00: (4.70) Sevilla (3.70) Arsenal (1.85)

22.00: (2.20) Benfica (3.45) Sociedad (3.60)

22.00: (2.45) Lens (3.50) PSV (3.00)

22.00: (6.50) Braga (4.50) Real Madrid (1.53)

Wednesday

19.45: (1.90) Feyenoord (3.70) Lazio (4.40)

19.45: (1.18) Barcelona (8.50) Shakhtar (16.0)

22.00: (1.80) PSG (3.70) Milan (5.00)

22.00: (1.80) Newcastle (3.70) Dortmund (5.00)

22.00: (3.90) Celtic (3.60) Atl.Madrid (2.05)

22.00: (15.0) Young Boys (7.25) Man.City (1.22)

22.00: (1.28) RB Leipzig (6.75) Crvena Zvezda (10.5)

22.00: (3.80) Antwerp (3.50) Porto (2.10)

***odds are subject to change