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Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) forward Neymar has said that he would give this year's Ballon d'Or award to Vinicius Junior instead of his Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema, who is the frontrunner for the accolade.
Vinicius guided Los Blancos to their 14th Champions League title, with Los Blancos beating Liverpool 1-0 in the final in Paris on Saturday. The Brazilian scored the only goal of the game in the second half, converting a low cross from Federico Valverde.
The Champions League triumph has made Benzema the favourite to win this year's Ballon d'Or award, having struck 44 times across competitions. However, Neymar does not agree with the narrative. In an interview with TNT Sports (via Madrid Xtra's Twitter page), Neymar said:
“The Ballon d’Or? Based on the games I have seen, I would give it to Vinicius.”
It's understandable why Neymar has picked Vinicius over Benzema for the prestigious accolade. The duo are strike partners for Brazil and are expected to be teammates in the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar later this year.
It's also worth mentioning that a Brazilian player has not won the Ballon d'Or since AC Milan attacker Kaka in 2007. Since then, Neymar has finished third in the standings twice, in 2015 and 2017.
Vinicius, 21, has had a great season for Los Blancos. The Brazilian bagged 22 goals and 20 assists in 52 appearances across competitions. Four of them have come in the Champions League, including one in the final.
Benzema, 34, has netted 44 goals in 46 appearances, including top-scoring with 15 strikes in the Champions League.
Luka Modric is last Real Madrid player to win Ballon d'Or
Croatian midfielder Luka Modric is the last Los Blancos player to win the Ballon d'Or award, in 2018.
That came after the midfielder guided Los Blancos to their 13th Champions League title and Croatia to their maiden FIFA World Cup final. Interestingly, Madrid defeated Liverpool in the Champions League on that occasion as well, but Croatia lost to France in the World Cup title match.
Benzema has never finished on the Ballon d'Or podium, but that could change this year. He finished fourth last year behind Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho.
