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Ashley Westwood has decided to choose Real Madrid's Karim Benzema over Liverpool star Mohamed Salah when it comes to the race for the Ballon d'Or award.
Benzema and Salah have been in inspirational form for both their sides and both men have been instrumental in lifting their teams to the Champions League final.
With the number of goals and assists both men have in the current campaign, the Real Madrid and Liverpool stars do make a case for winning the Ballon d'Or award this year.
However, during a recent media interaction, Westwood was clear about his choice and explained going with the French forward.
The football pundit said that without Benzema in the squad, Real Madrid wouldn't have reached the same heights this season.
"I think it's a tough one because we know how important Salah is for Liverpool. But someone at the age of 34, I think he'll be 35 in December, to hit 44 goals in 44 games. We'll put it this way, without Benzema in that team, the team they were. Yes, Salah is important to Liverpool but if he wasn't there, maybe Jota might have scored more or Diaz could have scored more, you can't replace Salah but you could have done without him maybe."
"But with Benzema, there's no way in the world that you could do without him at the club this season. So to me, he's got the edge and he looks like he's getting younger never mind older, so for me, he just gets the nod in that category," said Westwood.
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah do have the numbers to back their Ballon d'Or bids
The numbers don't lie, and in the case of Benzema and Salah, this statement holds.
The Real Madrid forward has racked up 44 goals in as many games for Los Blancos this season and has also got 14 assists to his name.
Salah, on the other hand, ended the Premier League campaign as the joint top goalscorer with 23 goals. He also bagged the Playmaker of the Season award with 13 assists to his name.
This does put both men in a strong position to bag the award and the Champions League final could seal the deal for either Benzema or Salah.
Winning Europe's premier competition will strengthen their case for the Ballon d'Or and both men will be looking to win the big one for their respective teams.
Watch UEFA Champions League 2021-22 Final - Liverpool vs. Real Madrid LIVE on SONY TEN 2 (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) & SONY TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels on 29th May 2022, at 12:30 am IST.
