Karim Benzema is counting on Golden Ball after Champions League victory: ‘I don’t have to prove anything anymore’ Champions League

Karim Benzema says he has done everything he can to get the Ballon d’Or, the Golden Ball for the best footballer of the season.

The 34-year-old striker led Real Madrid to the Spanish title with 27 goals and also won the Champions League with his club last night in Paris. Benzema became top scorer in the European Cup with fifteen goals; he made ten of them in the knockout phase.

,,Of course I think about the Golden Ball after such a season”, said the striker after the won final against Liverpool (1-0). ,,I’m going to the France national team now, but I don’t think I could have done more at my club this season. We’ll see what happens, but at least I’m proud of what I’ve done. I don’t have to prove anything on the field anymore.”

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Mainly thanks to the Frenchman’s goals, Real reached the final of the Champions League, miraculously eliminating Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City. In the final battle at the Stade de France, Vinicius Júnior scored the only goal.


,,You can’t say we were lucky this season. Yes, you can be lucky once, but not all the time. We earned this award by working very hard, never giving up and always coming back,” said Benzema after his fifth overall win in the Champions League.

Zinédine Zidane was the last French winner in 1998 of the Golden Ball election, which is organized by the French magazine France Football. This year’s winner will be honored on October 17 in Paris.

Karim Benzema. © AFP

Karim Benzema.

Karim Benzema. © ANP / EPA

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