Salah and Benzema compete for the most coveted individual prize in a Champions League final where the Egyptian and Frenchman’s performances will determine Liverpool and Real Madrid
Karim Benzema and Mohamed Salah compete in the final Ballon d’Or match at the Stade de France. The French striker for Real Madrid and the Egyptian striker for Liverpool almost monopolize all eyes in the hours leading up to the Champions League final, which will serve as the two favorites in the race to succeed Leo Messi in the record of individual recognition that more valued in football make their final arguments in a sideshow compared to the colossal collective reward at stake, but no less in an industry that thrives on its superheroes.
After a tiring season in which Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have alternated on the throne since 2008 – the only exception being the accolade that Luka Modric won in 2018 – quickly lost their options while the candidacies of Robert Lewandowski or Kylian Mbappe have won the Champions served to conduct the final screening and will act as a judge in a trial in which only two litigants appear: the ‘murderer’ of Real Madrid and the pharaoh of Liverpool.
The numbers indicate the huge influence the two have had on the successful transition of the two best squads of the course that will come to an end when Frenchman Clément Turpin announces the end of the deployment in Saint-Denis. 44 goals and 15 assists in 45 games are Benzema’s impressive confirmation in a campaign in which the Bron Real Madrid striker led Real Madrid to their twelfth Spanish Super Cup, catapulted the whites to their thirty-fifth league title and brought them back to the decisive game in their fetish league, registering 15 goals and adding two goals in a tournament that already has him as the third top scorer of all time with 86 goals, the same Lewandowski sealed and surpassed only by the alien Cristiano (140) and Messi (125).
Benzema’s punch grew exponentially in the knockout phase. After finishing the group stage with four goals in his locker, a hat-trick from the Lyon native at the Santiago Bernabéu saw Real Madrid step down from PSG in the round of 16. That astonishing performance was followed by another no less astonishing performance at Stamford Bridge, where he put Chelsea on the right track with his second consecutive hat-trick. The ‘blues’ came alive again in the second leg, but after Rodrygo came to the rescue of Real Madrid in the final leg of the match, the Lyon native cloaked the defending champion with a goal in extra time. Manchester City were his next victim in the semi-finals: two goals in the Etihad to lead Real Madrid’s resistance, adding the goal from the penalty spot that unbalanced the cross in that infarct-extra time when the Paseo de Castilian was held.
An attacking torrent where Benzema threatens Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 17 goals in the 2013-14 Champions League. Without his nose and unquestionable leadership, the string of comebacks that have led Real Madrid to Paris, where the Frenchman will try to deliver the final blow by beating Liverpool, would be inexplicable. A team against which he counts four notches on his revolver, the most notable of which was the one that opened the “thirteenth” lock at the Olympic Games in Kiev four years ago.
That quote is the main thorn in Salah’s career. The Egyptian had to leave that final in the 30th minute due to a shoulder injury that had arisen in a dispute with Sergio Ramos. He left in tears from a game in which he was Liverpool’s most dangerous player, but now he has the chance to make amends.
Like Benzema, the African has played a leading role in the Reds’ great campaign: champions of the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup, second in a Premier League in which they fought to the last breath to capture Manchester City’s title and brand new Champions League finalists. 31 goals and 15 assists are the balance with which Salah arrives in Paris. Eight of those goals have been signed by the former Roma in a Champions League that has him as the fourth highest scorer of this edition. He is the field footballer who has played the most minutes defending the British team’s cause in this year’s star tournament, the one who has made the most shots, the one who has made the most dribbling and also the one who has traveled the most. most miles.
An outstanding performance in the final that propelled Jürgen Klopp’s team to the ‘orejona’ could make Salah the second African footballer to secure the Ballon d’Or, 27 years after Liberian George Weah won it. Another exercise of power by Benzema will return the title to France, a country that has seen none of its own investment since Zinedine Zidane won it in 1998. The battle is underway.
Source: La Verdad
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