Benzema wins Ballon d'Or election – fans agree

As expected, Real striker Karim Benzema was honoured with the Ballon d'Or on Monday evening. The Frenchman won the prestigious award ahead of Sadio Mané from FC Bayern Munich and Kevin de Bruyne from Manchester City. The women's Ballon d'Or was won by Alexia Putellas, although the FC Barcelona player tore her cruciate ligament before this year's European Championship. FanQ asked German football fans about the various topics that arose around the award ceremony.

Courtois considers goalkeeper title „impossible“ - supporters agree with him

„A dream has come true. It was always about the joy of football. My work has paid off,“ said Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema after the result was announced. In the past season, the Frenchman scored 44 goals in 46 competitive matches for Real Madrid. At the same time, he led the Spanish record champions to the Champions League triumph with his important goals. Given his outstanding performances last season, it was no great surprise that the 34-year-old was chosen.

Football fans in Germany are also likely to agree with this decision. A few days before the vote, FanQ asked supporters whether they thought Benzema should win the prestigious award. 84.40 % of those who took part in the survey favoured the Frenchman in the Ballon d'Or vote. Only 7.40 % would have favoured a different winner.

Coming in fourth place behind Sadio Mané (FC Bayern Munich) and Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City) was former Bayern goal guarantee Robert Lewandowski (FC Barcelona). Ex-BVB forward Erling Haaland (Manchester City) only followed in tenth place – behind professionals such as Kylian Mbappé (sixth place, Paris St. Germain) and Vinícius Júnior (eighth place, Real Madrid).

Large sections of German fans cannot understand why the Norwegian is placed behind the French enfant terrible. In a corresponding survey by FanQ, almost two-thirds (65.71 %) of supporters express their bewilderment. In contrast, only 31.43 % of those surveyed believe that Erling Haaland rightly ranks behind the PSG star, despite his incredible Premier League start.

Three places behind the former Dortmund player was his designated successor, Sebastien Haller, who is suffering from testicular cancer. The former season ticket winners, on the other hand, only played subordinate roles. Cristiano Ronaldo, who is currently still employed by Manchester United, finished 20th. Defending champion and record winner Lionel Messi, who is now a member of PSG's star ensemble, was not even among the top 30 this year.

Thibaut Courtois, who keeps goal for Champions League winners Real Madrid, was honoured with the Jashin Trophy after an outstanding pre-season in which the keeper consistently performed at the highest level. The Belgian thus won the long-awaited award for best goalkeeper in the world, beating off competition from Brazilians Alisson (Liverpool FC) and Ederson (Manchester City). Nevertheless, he caused a stir with dissatisfied statements. Despite his outstanding performances and three major titles, he only came seventh in the voting for the Ballon d'Or. When asked whether there was therefore no realistic chance for a goalkeeper to prevail against the outfield players, he had a clear answer. „To be honest: I think it's impossible,“ the 30-year-old complained. „Of course Karim deserves it, we're happy and everyone agrees. But after a year in which you win the Champions League and the league as goalkeeper, your team wins the Champions League final thanks to your saves - and then you only finish seventh?“ The Real keeper particularly shone in the final of the Champions League against Liverpool FC.

In this context, FanQ surveyed football fans in Germany on whether they believe Courtois is right in his assertion. Over three-quarters (75.25 %) of the survey participants also hold the view that it is not possible for a goalkeeper to win the Ballon d'Or. Only just over one in ten (11.88 %) respondents are of a different opinion in this regard. In fact, it seems at least incredibly difficult for a keeper to receive this coveted individual award. For example, FCB goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who won the Champions League in 2013, became World Champion in 2014, and revolutionised goalkeeping with his interpretation of acting as a kind of sweeper, only came third in the 2014 Ballon d'Or vote, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

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With Karim Benzema and Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid thus provided the Ballon d'Or winner and the winner of the Jashin Trophy for the world's best goalkeeper. In addition, the ‚royals‘ not only won the Champions League last season, but also the Spanish championship and the domestic Super Cup. Despite the „little treble“, Carlo Ancelotti's team only came third in the „Team of the Year“ vote behind Manchester City and Liverpool FC. A position that surprised Toni Kroos, among others. „The third best team in 2021/22 - happy, Real Madrid?” tweeted the former Germany international after the result was announced.

Even among fans in his home country, the 32-year-old is meeting with approval. In a corresponding FanQ survey, over three-quarters (75.26 %) of respondents can understand the midfield maestro's displeasure. Only 18.56 nnot understand Kroos‘ reaction and find the ranking to be in order.

Furthermore, Senegalese player Sadio Mané won the new Socrates Award, which honours players who are strongly committed to social causes. The new Barça superstar Robert Lewandowski, who reportedly also moved to the Catalans to increase his chances in the Ballon d'Or vote, had to make do with the Gerd Müller Trophy for the best forward of the past season.

In the women's category, defending champion Alexia Putellas from Spain prevailed. Although the FC Barcelona player was sidelined for a long time with an anterior cruciate ligament tear and missed the European Championship in the summer, she won the vote ahead of England's Beth Mead from Arsenal FC and Australia's Sam Kerr from local rivals FC Chelsea. Lena Oberdorf and Alexandra Popp, who play for VfL Wolfsburg, came in fourth and sixth place respectively. Fifth place went to Putellas‘ compatriot and teammate Aitana Bonmati.

In diesem Zusammenhang hat FanQ die deutschen Fußballfans befragt, ob sie sich ebenfalls für Putellas entscheiden hätten. Rechnet man die 36,46 %, die angaben, in dieser Angelegenheit keine Meinung zu haben, heraus, so sind nur 37,70 % der Anhänger mit der Wahl einverstanden. 49,18 % der Befragten denken hingegen, dass andere Spielerinnen die Auszeichnung mehr verdient hätten als die Barça-Akteurin.

The Kopa Trophy for the best U21 player went, somewhat surprisingly and to the incomprehension of some fans, coaches and colleagues, to Spaniard Gavi, who also plays for the Catalans. Second place went to Real midfielder Eduardo Camavinga from France. National player and Bayern attacker Jamal Musiala came third, ahead of Englishman Jude Bellingham, who pulls the strings in Borussia Dortmund's midfield.FanQ reported).

The Golden Ball has been awarded annually by the specialist magazine France Football since 1956. The winner was initially considered „European Footballer of the Year“. Since 2007, in competition with FIFA's World Player of the Year award (since 1991), the best global player has been chosen. From 2010 to 2015, the magazine and the world football association cooperated in selecting the World Player of the Year, and since 2016, two different awards have been presented again.