Former Real Madrid star Hugo Sanchez is backing Karim Benzema to win this year’s Ballon d’Or after his impressive campaign which saw the striker lead the Spanish giants to a LaLiga and Champions League double.
Benzema registered a goal or assist every 89 minutes last season and scored 15 goals in 12 appearances in the Champions League, including hat-tricks against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.
He also became Real Madrid’s second highest goal scorer, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo in the club’s all-time list.
“It’s Benzema for this year’s Ballon d’Or,” Sanchez told MARCA. “It’s very noticeable when Benzema is on the pitch and when he’s not.
“With his experience, maturity, quality and leadership he has shown that he deserves it, and more so with the League and the Champions League.”
Sanchez was a prolific goal scorer himself and is widely seen as Mexico’s greatest ever footballer.
His spectacular ability to find the back of the net made him one of the best players in the world when he played for Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in the 1980s and 1990s, but he feels his chances of winning the Ballon d’Or were always slim due to his nationality.
“Before, players from the American continent were discriminated against because they couldn’t vote for us to win the Ballon d’Or,” said Sanchez. “I could have won at least one [Ballon d’Or] and possibly two.”
Benzema has also been tipped to win the Ballon d’or by teammate Vinicius Junior and Barcelona’s Dani Alves.
“He has everything to win for what he is doing,” said Alves.
“But the Champions League is going to have a lot of influence. If he wins it, he’s a serious candidate, though there are other names as well. At Manchester City, at Liverpool… there are players who can fight for it.
“He is earning it, because he has taken Real Madrid to places that it was not before in terms of play and other facets.”
The results of the Ballon d’Or will be based on results of a season rather than a calendar year for the first time in the history of the award.
The nominees will be announced on August 12, with the ceremony taking place on October 17 in Paris.
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