The two men praised Benzema after he won the Ballon d'Or. There is a time and a place for it.
The most prestigious individual award in European football, the Men's Ballon d'Or, was won by Benzema in the year 2022.
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The results of this year's awards revealed at Monday's gala also showed something of a sea change as both Lionel Messi and CR7 recorded disappointing finishes in the Ballon d'Or polls for the past 15 years.
After finishing second and third in the Ballon d'Or vote in 2007,Ronaldo and Messi appeared together in the top three.
After winning the Ballon d'Or for the first time in 2008,Ronaldo and his rival went on to win 10 awards in a row.
The chart shows the Ballon d'Or finishes of the two players, starting with the first one.
The first of the duo to win the Ballon d'Or wasRonaldo at the age of 23. The Portuguese forward finished ahead of Messi in the vote after scoring 42 goals for United in the 2008/09 season.
At the age of 22, Messi became the youngest winner of the Ballon d'Or when he scored in Barcelona's victory over United in the final. Diego Maradona was the Albiceleste's greatest player, but he never won the title.
Barcelona dominated the 2010 awards as Messi claimed his second Ballon d'Or while the rest of the podium places were occupied by other La Masia alumni. It wasRonaldo who finished a distant sixth.
With 43 goals and 21 assists in 47 games over the course of 2011, it came as little surprise when Messi won a third consecutive Ballon d'Or.
Messi became the first player in footballing history to win four consecutive Ballon d'Ors, as he finished runner-up for the second year in a row. The world was treated to the sight of Messi collecting his record-breaking trophy while wearing a tuxedo.
The prolific Real Madrid forward won the Ballon d'Or for the second year in a row as he scored 55 goals in 55 matches for Los Blancos, pipping Messi and Ribery to the award.
The Ballon d'Or was won byRonaldo at the age of 29 after he defeated Messi in the final poll. The Portuguese star helped end Real Madrid's quest to win the European Cup by scoring 17 goals in the competition.
In 2015, Messi won five trophies with Barcelona and contributed 52 goals and 26 assists in 61 games for club and country, returning to the top of the ballot.
In the following year, the pendulum swung again, and this time it wasRonaldo who started a three-year streak of success. After Real Madrid won the European title for the second year in a row, he added three more goals to his total.
In order to equal Messi's record of five Ballon D'ors in a single season, the Portuguese forward needed to score 42 goals in the previous season with Real Madrid.
Luka Modric became the first player other than Lionel Messi andRonaldo to win the Ballon d'Or for an entire decade after muscling into the frame and becoming a star for both Real Madrid and Croatia.
Messi moved out in front once again by winning his sixth career Ballon d'Or in 2019 after scoring 51 goals and laying on 19 assists (a whopping total of 70 goal involvements) in 49 matches during the season in which he won his final LaLiga title Messi andRonaldo were separated from each other on the podium by van Dijk, who won the silver medal.
The decision not to give out an award in 2020 was taken despite the completion of most major league and competition.
Though his seventh Ballon d'Or came as something of a shock to many fans who felt that Robert Lewandowski was a nailed-on cert to win the award, Lionel Messi continued to extend his record.
The duopoly of Messi and Ballon d'Or is over. The Ballon d'Or result looks ominous for the once-presiding pair after they both failed to make the final 30.
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