Messi Tips Benzema for 'Deserved' Ballon d'Or

Karim Benzema. (AFP)
Karim Benzema. (AFP)
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Messi Tips Benzema for 'Deserved' Ballon d'Or

Karim Benzema. (AFP)
Karim Benzema. (AFP)

Real Madrid's France star Karim Benezema deserves to win the Ballon d'Or, according to seven-time laureate Lionel Messi.

Benzema was crucial in Madrid's Champions League victory this season, culminating with a 1-0 win over Liverpool in Paris on Saturday, AFP said.

Although he did not score in the final, Benzema's back-to-back hat-tricks in the knock-out rounds, starting with a 17-minute treble against Messi's Paris Saint-Germain to overturn a 2-0 aggregate deficit, were crucial to generating the momentum that swept the Spaniards to the title.

"There's no doubt, it's very clear that Benzema has had a spectacular year and has ended it by winning the Champions League," Messi told Argentine channel TyC Sports.

"He was crucial from the last-16 onwards in every match and I think there's no doubt" that Benzema deserves to win the Ballon d'Or.

Messi was speaking a couple of days ahead of a friendly with Italy at Wembley stadium between two continental champions.

The match between the South American Copa America holders and the European champions, where many Argentines trace their roots, is known as the "Finalissima".

But while Argentina stormed to qualification for the Qatar World Cup later this year with several games to spare, Italy astonishingly missed out after losing to minnows North Macedonia in a play-off.

"What happened with Italy is crazy, having won the Euros and not being at the World Cup, given Italy's history at the World Cup," he said.

"If Italy had been at the World Cup they would have been one of the favorites. They were unlucky. No one would have wanted to play them."

Having spent his entire career at Barcelona, the 34-year-old moved to PSG a year ago where he has struggled to reproduce his best form.

He admitted it had been "a difficult change" and that the first day he took his children to school in Paris he left "crying".

Having caught Covid-19 at the end of 2021, Messi is convinced the virus has left "scars" in his lungs while he also admitted the Champions League capitulation against Real was "a tough blow".



Sinner, Djokovic in Opposite Halves at Australian Open, Sabalenka vs Stephens in 1st Round

09 January 2025, Australia, Melbourne: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka (L) and Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner pose with Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup during the draw for the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament, at Melbourne Park, Melbourne. Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP/dpa
09 January 2025, Australia, Melbourne: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka (L) and Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner pose with Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup during the draw for the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament, at Melbourne Park, Melbourne. Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP/dpa
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Sinner, Djokovic in Opposite Halves at Australian Open, Sabalenka vs Stephens in 1st Round

09 January 2025, Australia, Melbourne: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka (L) and Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner pose with Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup during the draw for the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament, at Melbourne Park, Melbourne. Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP/dpa
09 January 2025, Australia, Melbourne: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka (L) and Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner pose with Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup during the draw for the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament, at Melbourne Park, Melbourne. Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP/dpa

Defending champion Jannik Sinner and 10-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic have landed in opposite sides of the draw for the season’s first major, ruling out a replay of last year’s semifinal match.
Sinner upset Djokovic in the semifinals at the Australian Open last year before coming back to beat Daniil Medvedev in the final 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 for his first Grand Slam singles title.
Top-ranked Sinner has a first-round match against Nicolas Jarry and also has Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Medvedev in his quarter of the draw. Fritz will open against fellow American Jenson Brooksby.
Djokovic and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz could meet in the quarterfinals, with a possible semifinal against No. 2 Alexander Zverev.
At the draw Thursday to set the brackets for the singles fields, defending champions Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka walked into the official ceremony holding thei trophies.
Sabalenka won her second consecutive title at Melbourne Park in 2024 by defeating Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-2 in the final. Sabalenka will be attempting to win a third consecutive women’s singles title at Melbourne Park, something last accomplished by Martina Hingis from 1997 to 1999.
Sabalenka drew a tough opening match against 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens and has 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva and Zheng in her section.
“I have a lot of great memories and to be back here ... as a two-time Australian Open champion, it’s definitely something special,” Sabalenka, who won the Brisbane International title last week, said at the draw ceremony. “I hope that I can keep doing what I’m doing here in Australia.”
Third-seeded Coco Gauff is a potential semifinal rival for Sabalenka. Gauff has a challenging first-round match against former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and is in the same section of the draw as seventh-seeded Jessica Pegula.
The Australian Open starts Sunday morning in Melbourne (Saturday night EST) and will run for 15 days.
Djokovic will be playing in his first event alongside new coach Andy Murray, his former on-court rival and a three-time major champion. Nobody has won the men's title at Melbourne Park more often than Djokovic, although he said he still feels trauma from the one year he wasn’t allowed to play.
Nick Kyrgios, the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up who withdrew from an exhibition against Djokovic this week because of an abdominal strain, will face Jacob Fearnley in the first round if the mercurial Australian is fit enough to contest his first major since the 2022 US Open. Kyrgios is in the same section as Zverev.