While he should win his eighth career Ballon d’Or, Lionel Messi returned to Karim Benzema’s coronation last year.
Now less than a week before the announcement of the winner of the 2023 Ballon d’Or, there is little doubt about the identity of the lucky winner. Barring a (big) surprise, Lionel Messi should indeed be rewarded again. Argentina’s coronation at the World Cup, which owes a lot to it, should indeed be enough to prevail against the XXL season delivered by Erling Haaland with Manchester City. And this despite his difficulties with PSG.
Lionel Messi should therefore receive his eighth career Ballon d’Or and further extend his domination of world football. This coronation will undoubtedly be as controversial as his victories in 2019 against Virgil van Dijk or in 2021 against Robert Lewandowski, when his statistics with Barça were this time favored over the titles, or even the goals, piled up by his competitors.
In recent years, only Karim Benzema has managed to break the hegemony of Lionel Messi. The Frenchman, author of an exceptional season with Real Madrid, notably in the Champions League, where he had multiplied the brilliance, had in fact been crowned in 2022. The Argentinian had not even been selected this time among the nominees. It nevertheless completely validated the coronation of the Madrilenian. “Benzema really deserved it for the great season he had and for his entire career. He’s a wonderful player. This award is important for him and for football”he explained in the documentary “Ballon d’Or 2022: the race towards eternity” broadcast Monday evening on the L’Equipe channel.
