Karim Mostafa Benzema, a French professional footballer and Real Madrid forward has won the 2021/22 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award.
Benzema emerged top for the first time in his football career, with 523 points as revealed at the award ceremony held at Instabul.
The 34-year-old, who last season spearheaded Real Madrid’s victorious UEFA Champions League campaign and helped France to UEFA Nations League success, held off competition from club-mate Thibaut Courtois and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne.
I’m really happy,” he said as he collected his award. “It’s the first time I’ve won this trophy but for me the most important thing is to win trophies with the team. Mr Ancelotti is the best coach in the world; he gets it right with every player, he gives us confidence and he tells you what to do before every match.”
The award was announced during the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Istanbul.
See the top 10 list:
1. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid & France) – 523 points
2 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City & Belgium) – 122 points
3 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid & Belgium) – 118 points
4 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern, now Barcelona & Poland) – 54 points
5 Luka Modrić (Real Madrid & Croatia) – 52 points
6 Sadio Mané (Liverpool, now Bayern & Senegal) – 51 points
7 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool & Egypt) – 46 points
8 Kylian Mbappé (Paris & France) – 25 points
9 Vinícius Junior (Real Madrid & Brazil) – 21 points
10 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool & Netherlands) – 19 points
