"Congratulations to our spectacular player" - Real Madrid publicly back Karim Benzema to win this year's Ballon d'Or

Real Madrid have lent their public support to star forward Karim Benzema to win the 2021 Ballon d'Or. Benzema is among the 30 nominees for the men's Ballon d'Or award which will be announced in a ceremony on November 29.

The Frenchman has had a tremendous year leading up to his nomination on this year's Ballon d'Or shortlist. Benzema enjoyed a brilliant 2020-21 campaign, scoring 30 goals and assisting nine in 46 games across all competitions for Real Madrid. He followed it up by scoring four goals in as many games for France at Euro 2020.

Benzema has also started the 2021-22 season in fine form for Real Madrid. The talismanic forward has scored 10 times and assisted seven in just 10 matches this term. Thanks to his efforts, Los Blancos lead La Liga despite a wobble in form before the ongoing international break.

The Frenchman also added a first international trophy to his already-stacked resume. Benzema was on target for France in their UEFA Nations League final victory over Spain on Sunday (October 10). The Real Madrid forward also scored in France's 3-2 comeback victory against Belgium in the semifinals of the tournament.

All of this means Benzema is among the primary candidates for this year's Ballon d'Or award. Real Madrid have also backed their star to bring the award home with a recent tweet.

"Congratulations to @equipedefrance and to all of the France football fans for the extraordinary #NationsLeague title and congratulations to our spectacular player @Benzema, Balón de Oro."

You can read Real Madrid's tweet here:

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Real Madrid's Karim Benzema faces stiff competition for the 2021 Ballon d'Or

While Karim Benzema has certainly had a tremendous year, the Real Madrid forward will face some stiff competition in his bid to win the Ballon d'Or this year. The likes of Lionel Messi, Jorginho and Robert Lewandowski remain frontrunners for the award.

Messi encountered a sub-par 2020-21 campaign with Barcelona as the Catalans could only secure the Copa del Rey. However, he was brilliant individually, recording 38 goals and 14 assists for the Blaugrana in 47 matches.

Messi also went on to secure the Copa America 2021 with Argentina in the summer. La Pulga scored four goals and assisted five in Albiceleste's winning run, which brought him the Golden Boot and Player of the Tournament awards. This has made him a key candidate for this year's Ballon d'Or.

Jorginho enjoyed a fruitful 2020-21 campaign with both club and country. The Italian played a starring role as Chelsea clinched the UEFA Champions League. Jorginho then went on to play all the matches in Italy's title-winning Euro 2020 run. He even scored the winning penalty in the shootout against England in the final of the tournament.

Lastly, Lewandowski had a tremendous individual campaign in the 2020-21 season. While Bayern Munich could only win the league, the Polish striker broke the record for most goals in a single Bundesliga campaign. Lewandowski scored 48 goals and provided nine assists across 40 matches in all competitions for the Bavarians. The record certainly warrants the Pole winning the 2021 Ballon d'Or.

Many also believe the striker deserves this year's Ballon d'Or after last year's award was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lewandowski helped Bayern Munich to a continental treble in the 2019-20 season. The club also went on to win the UEFA Super Cup, German Super Cup and Club World Cup to make it a sextuple.