Figures that make you dizzy. Even if Karim Benzema assured with The Team that “the Ballon d’Or is someone who, over a season, shows something other than football, class gestures”, there is no doubt that the Real Madrid striker, crowned best player of the season on Monday, October 17, also had his impressive statistical performance in mind. The opportunity for franceinfo: sport to take stock of the crazy figures of the golden year of the New.
50 goals and 16 assists
Often categorized as a complete attacker rather than a simple center forward, Karim Benzema has also been able to behave like a pure number 9 this season. The statistics speak for themselves. The top scorer in the Champions League (15 goals) and La Liga (27) also found the net in the Spanish Super Cup (2) and in the French team (6), for a total of 50 goals in 2021-2022. Altruism is another of his qualities. His 16 assists in all competitions are proof of that.
71 minutes to be decisive
Last season, Karim Benzema played 4,666 minutes in his 56 games played in all competitions (46 with Real Madrid, 10 with the France team). Decisive 66 times (50 goals and 16 assists), the 2022 Golden Ball has therefore been involved, on average, in one goal action every 71 minutes. An exceptional performance, worthy of the greatest seasons of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
34 years and 302 days
This is the age at which Karim Benzema receives his first Golden Ball. By way of comparison, Raymond Kopa was 27 when he received his in 1958, Jean-Pierre Papin (1991) and Zinédine Zidane (1998) were 28, and Michel Platini 30 in 1985, for the last of his three Golden balloons. If the Real Madrid striker is the fifth and oldest of the French rewarded, the longevity record remains held by the Englishman Stanley Matthews, crowned at 41 years old in 1956. Karim Benzema is placed on the second step of the podium, in front of Lev Yachine (1963) and Lionel Messi (2021), also Ballons d’Or at 34.
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4 trophies
In addition to individual and collective performances, the prize list has once again become one of the most important components of the Ballon d’Or. In this game, difficult to match Karim Benzema. In addition to the Champions League and the Spanish championship, the Madrilenian won the Spanish Super Cup this season as well as the 2020-2021 Nations League with the France team. Only the Copa del Rey is missing from the roster of Benzema, who was not on the scoresheet during Real Madrid’s elimination against Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-finals.
2 yellow cards
Despite his exceptional statistics, Karim Benzema is far from being obsessed with the opposing goal. Not stingy with pressing, the native of Lyon is nonetheless a very clean player with only two yellow cards received in 66 games this season. On the scale of his career, Karim Benzema has received only 17 warnings and no expulsion in more than 850 professional meetings. This Ballon d’Or 2022 is therefore also that of fair play.