By Emmanuel Uffot
For fans of France International and Real Madrid talisman Karim Benzema, their long wait for the striker who has been in superlative form in recent years to crown his efforts with the coveted UEFA Ballon d’Or award, became a reality on Thursday August 24, 2022 as he was crowned the 2021/2022 UEFA Men’s player of the Year.
The award which was announced during the draws for the 2022/2023 UEFA Champions League (UCL) group stage held in Istanbul, the capital of Turkey, saw Benzema beating goal keeper team-mate Thibaut Coutois and the Dutch Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne.
The France International’s performance has soared in the past two years which kept him at the poll as a frontrunner for the award this year. Not only by scoring over 40 goals in all competitions last year and this year but guided his team Real Madrid to a double by winning the Spain LaLiga and Champions League.
Benzema scored 27 goals in 32 games for Real Madrid which won the 2021 Spanish League (LaLiga) and a total of 15 goals in 12 Champions League games for the Spanish giants that equally carted home the UEFA Champions League trophy beating Mohammed Sallah inspired Liverpool. Their Champions League triumph in May in Paris was the 14th and the highest by any European team.
Beyond propelling Real Madrid to win both the Spanish league and Champions League which had brightened his chance for the 2021/22 Ballon d’Or, the France International who also helped France to win the last FIFA World Cup in 2018, also within the season under review (2021/22) won the UEFA Nations League, Spanish Super Cup with his team Real Madrid and UEFA Champions League Player of the Season.
He scored 523 points to win the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award while Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City and Real Madrid keeper Thibaut Coutois came a distance first and second runner-up with 122 points and 118 points respectively.
Benzema expressed happiness over the award which he noted was his first and gave kudos to his coach, Carlo Ancelotti for finding that confidence in him to make him a first team player.
“I am really happy for this award, it is the first time I have won this trophy but for me the most important thing is to trophies with the team. Ancelotti is the best coach in the world, he gets it right with every player and he gives us confidence and tells you what to do before every match”.
10 players were shortlisted for this year edition of Ballon d’Or currently held by the Polish International and Bayern Munich prolific striker Robert Lewandoski.
10 players were shortlisted from the initial 30 for the final draw to choose the winner. These were Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Thibaut Coutois (Real Madrid), Robert Lewandoski (Bayern Munich), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Mohammed Sallah (Liverpool), Kylian Mbappe (PSG) Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) and dependable Liverpool and Dutch defender Virgil Van Dijk.
It is significant to note that Christian Ronaldo, five time winner of Ballon d’Or and Lionel Messi that had both dominated the scene carting home over four awards did not even make the top shortlisted 10 top players.
Lewandoski, the mercurial prolific striker for Bayern Munich and one of the best strikers in Europe in the past five years who is now plying his trade in Barcelona was the previous holder of UEFA Mens Footballer of the Year 2020/21.
Meanwhile a total of 64 clubs in Europe will next month slug it out in Europe prestigious leagues football competition, the Champions league and Europa League in the round of 32 group stage matches. In the draws held at Istanbul, the capital of Turkey which will host the final of the Champions League scheduled for June 10, 2023 saw 32 teams grouped into eight groups for UCL and second tier Europa each.
According to the groupings, Group A will have last year finalist Liverpool of England, Ajax of Netherland, Napoli of Italy and Rangers of Scotland. The teams in Group B are- Porto of Portugal, Atletico Madrid (Spain), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) and Club Brugge (Belgium).
Group C will have perennial Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich competing with Barcelona of Spain, Inter Milan of Italy and Viktoria Pizen of Czech Republic
Those in Group D are- Eintrancht Frankfurt (Germany) the current holder of Europa League trophy, Tottenham Hotspurs of England, Sporting CP of Portugal and Marseille of France. In Group E, AC Milan that is the current Italian Serie A Champions, Chelsea, RB Salzburg of Austria and Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia while Group F will have the current UCL Champions Real Madrid competing with RB Leipzig of Germany, Shaktar Donetsk of Ukraine and Celtic of Scotland. In Group G, English Premiership champions Manchester City will have Sevilla of Spain, Borussia Dortmund of Germany and FC Copenhagen of Denmark to do battle with and the final Group H will feature French league champions PSG, Juventus of Italy, Benfica of Portugal and Maccabi Haifa of Israel.
A breakdown shows that the four major European leagues, England, Spain, Germany and Italy all have four teams in these group stage round of 32 while France, Scotland, Belgium and Portugal have two teams competing in this round.
In the process leading to the draw, Manchester City (English Premiership Champions), Real Madrid (Spain LaLiga and UCL Champions), Bayern Munich (German Bundesliga Champions) Ajax (Champions of Netherland) Porto (Portugal league champion) AC Milan (Italy Serie A champion, PSG (France League 1 champions and Europa League champion Eintracht Frankfurt were all seeded in Port 1 by virtue of their status of champions of their various leagues.
Similarly, in the Europa League regarded as the second tier league after the Champions League, the 32 teams drawn into eight groups in the group stage of the competition will feature Arsenal of England now in a superb form slugging it out with PSV of Netherland, Bode/Glimit a debutant and FC Zurich of Switzerland in Group A.
Group B will have- Dynamo Kiev, Rennes of Italy, Fenerbache of Belgium and Larmaca, Group C- Roma, Ludogorets, Real Betis and Hjk Helsinki while Group D parades Braga, Malmo, Union Berlin and…Gilloose.
In Group E, favourites Manchester United will contend with Real Sociedad of Spain, Sheriff and Omola. Group F will see Lazio of Italy competing with Feyenood of Netherland, Midtyaland and Sturm Graz, Group G have Olympiacos of Greece, Qarabag, Freibug and Nantes and Group H is populated with relatively minors like Crvena Zvezda, Ferenevarost, Trabzonspor fighting for a place in the round of 16 with French Ligue 1 giants Monaco.
Interestingly, the Champions League will create a window of opportunity for some Super Eagles players to showcase themselves in the prestigious European clubs competition.
For Instance, Group A will have Nigerian Victor Osimhen of Napoli slugging it out with new Ajax signing Calvin Bassey. Both are expected to confront each other if they are featured when both side meet as Osimhen a dependable striker will face Bassey who is a defender.
Three other Nigerian players will also feature in the Champions league group stage which kick off next month. They are Samson Tijani and Bryan Okoh of RB Salzburg and Fortune Bassey of Viktoria Pizen.
However, ahead of the group stage matches, book makers are already predicting some of the teams that are likely to go through to the next round of 16.
In Group A which is a tough group, Liverpool is seen as a sure bet to qualify from that group with the second slot to be contested for by the trio of Ajax, Napoli and Rangers, the Scotland champions. In Group B, Atletico Madrid and Porto are tipped to go through while Group C regarded as the group of death will have the two slots keenly contested for by Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Inter Milan.
For Group D, Tottenham Hotspurs is expected to go through, same as Chelsea in Group E, Real Madrid in Group F and PSG, perennial under achievers in European club competitions currently Kylian Mbappe, Messi and Neymar Jr according book makers prediction will qualify from the group leaving Juventus and Portuguese giants Benfica to contest for the second slot.
Similarly, some teams in this round are regarded as clear under dogs with slim chances of progressing from their groups. One of them is Maccabi Haifa of Israel which is in the same group with PSG and Juventus. Others are Viktoria Pizen in the group that have Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Inter Milan and FC Copenhagen in group G which have Manchester City, Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund that are in frontline to fight for the two slots.
In the Europa league, Arsenal, Manchester United, Roma, Monaco, Lazio, Olympiacos, PSV, Real Betis, Feyenood and Braga are predicted as the teams that will likely go through. Like in the Champions League, teams that have slim chances of going through to the next round according to book makers predictions include, Bode/Glimit, Larmaca, HJK Helsinki, Sheriff, Omonola, Sturm Graz and Ferencvarost.
The UEFA Champions League is slated to begin on September 6 and 7 for the first leg matches while Europa comes up a day after.
UCL ROUND OF 32 GROUPS
GROUP A
Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers
GROUP B
Porto, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Brugge
GROUP C
Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Viktoria Pizen
GROUP D
Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham Hotspurs, Sporting CP, Marseille
GROUP E
AC Milan, Chelsea, RB Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb
GROUP F
Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shaktar Donetsk, Celtic
GROUP G
Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, FC Copenhagen
GROUP H
PSG, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa
EUROPA ROUND OF 32 GROUPS
GROUP A
Arsenal, PSV, Bodo/Glimt, FC Zurich
GROUP B
Dynamo Kiev,Rennes, Fenerbache, Larnaca
GROUP C
Roma, Ludogorets, Real Betis, HJK Helsinki
GROUP D
Braga, Malmo, Union Berlin, Union Saint- Gilloise
GROUP E
Manchester United, Real Sociedad, Sheriff, Omonola
GROUP F
Lazio, Feyenood, Midtyland, Sturm Graz
GROUP G
Olympiacos, Qarabag, Freiburg, Nantes
GROUP H
Crvena Zvezda, Monaco, Ferencvaros, Trabzonspor
