(Football news) Karim Benzema has now officially won the Ballon D'or. For the longest time it has been clear that the Frenchman is the clear favorite to win the coveted trophy. He was presented the trophy by his former coach and idol Zinedine Zidane while his other idol Ronaldo Nazario was in the audience. The striker then invited his mother, father and son on stage to share the emotional moment with him. He said that winning, buying his mother a house, playing for Real Madrid and winning the Ballon D'or were his three big dreams and yesterday he completed all of them. His coaches Zinedine Zidane, Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho had some heavy praise for him in a video montage. 

Benzema became the oldest player to win the Ballon D'or since 1956 and also the first French player since Zinedine Zidane. He is also the first striker/no. 9 to win the trophy in this generation as the last proper no. 9 to win the Ballon D'or was Andriy Shevchenko in 2004. Benzema had an incredible season with Real Madrid as he won the La Liga and the Champions League top scoring in both the competition. He also won the UEFA Super Cup and the Spanish Super Cup. Benzema was captain of the side in the majority of the matches and led the team from the front. Real Madrid were dominant in the League but in the Champions League they found a way to win despite being 2nd favourites for large parts of the knockout games. Usually before the Ballon D'or there are debates as to who deserves the award but this time around almost everyone was in agreement that Benzema deserves the award.

Alexia Putellas won the Ballon D'or feminin for the 2nd consecutive time. Gavi won the Kopa trophy for the best under 21 player just a year after his Barcelona teammate Pedri won it. Thibaut Courtois won the Yashin trophy for being the best goalkeeper of the season. For the 2nd consecutive time Robert Lewandowski won the Gerd Muller trophy which is given to the best striker of the season. Surprisingly, Real Madrid who won the European double was ranked 3rd in the club of the season award behind Manchester City and Liverpool who Los Blancos defeated in the Champions League. Sadio Mane finished 2nd in the Ballon D'or rankings followed by Kevin De Bruyne and Robert Lewandowski. 

Also read: Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas retains Women’s Ballon d’Or title