JOSEPH KENNEDY — As soccer fans prospectively look to November 20th in anticipation of the beginning of the World Cup, we must look back at the 2021-22 season and reflect on all that happened leading to Karim Benzema’s historic Ballon D’Or victory.
Benzema won the award with the second largest gap in points in the history of the award. With a massive 356 point difference, Benzema’s 27 goals in 32 La Liga games and 15 goals in 12 Champions League games helped the striker comfortably snag the award. Not only were his numbers impressive, but his resume for the year spoke for itself. Benzema guided Real Madrid to a La Liga title, a Champions League title, and a Spanish Super Cup, all the while teaming up with Real Madrid teammate Vinicius Jr., who placed eighth in the award’s rankings after his breakout season.
While there was no doubt that Benzema would win the award, fans were surprised to find the likes of Sadio Mané and Kevin De Bruyne placed second and third in the rankings, respectively. While both players had outstanding seasons, highlighted by Mané taking home the AFCON trophy, Carabao Cup, and FA Cup, and De Bruyne adding another premier league to his collection, the decision to have both players ranked that high was largely unprecedented. Although Mané earned lots of silverware this year, by his standards, his numbers were not indicative of a second place spot: 16 goals in the Premier League and five goals in the Champions League. Oppositely, the Belgian midfielder De Bruyne continued with his superb stats, registering 23 goal contributions in the Premier League and five in the Champions League, but his lack of silverware, apart from another Premier League trophy, made it a surprise to find him in third place. Lewandowski comfortably held out for fourth place in the award rankings, tallying 34 goals in the Bundesliga and 13 in the Champions League, and leading Bayern to their 10th consecutive Bundesliga title and a DFL-Supercup. Perhaps the most shocking news of all, Lionel Messi failed to make the 30-man shortlist for the award, and Cristiano Ronaldo finished in 20th, the lowest either has placed since they began their recent dominance of the award.
With the 2022/23 season already shaping up nicely, fans can begin to get a clear idea as to who will be next year’s contenders for the award. The race begins right now, as this month’s World Cup will likely play a large part in the future winner’s profile.
The Dutch Report 