The Real Madrid vice-captain spent a lot of time on the left wing, allowing Vinicius Junior to dart infield, a simple move that brought out the best of the Brazilian wonder-kid. Will come into effect from the 2022 edition. Cristiano Ronaldo sparks speculation with new Bayern Munich following. 
They will hope it is less controversial than the previous two editions. Blues Boss Todd Boehly Discusses Potential Transfer of Manchester United Legend. Benzema won it. These are the four changes announced by L'Equipe. The editorial staff of France Football and L'Equipe were the ones who were choosing the 30 Ballon d'Or candidates, as well as the 20 for the Yashin Trophy and 20 for the Kopa Trophy. He also dropped as deep as the midfield rather than staying in line with the opposition defense like most strikers would. Bye., UCL final: No belief Wenger blames two Liverpool stars for 1-0 loss to Real Madrid, NNL: Tankos late penalty gives Kogi United home win against Doma United, Ballon dOr 2022: Sanchez names player who should win award, Ballon dOr 2022: Yaya Toure picks winner between Benzema, Mane, Ballon dOr 2022: Zidane names player that should win award, EPL: Nketiah set to take shirt worn by Thierry Henry, Aubameyang, Ballon dOr 2022: What Ill do if I dont win award Salah, Ballon dOr 2022: I have no doubts Messi reveal player to win it. 
By dropping deep, he gives his defenders an extra passing outlet to get the ball away from direct danger while keeping possession of the ball. This season, he won the treble of the Champions League, La Liga, and Spanish Super Cup with Real Madrid. There will no longer be votes cast by correspondents from distant countries who might not to quite as clued up about what is happening in Europes top leagues or which players are standing out; in the past, those journalists tended to vote for the high profile players they are familiar with, usually Messi or Cristiano - maybe because they didnt know much about the other candidates. Now only selected journalists from the federations occupying the top 100 places in FIFAs world Mens ranking will be able to vote - whittled down substantially from the 170 journalists worldwide who voted in the past. The new regulations could help him in his quest to be number one. Lionel Messi holds the 2021 Ballon d'Or trophy. For breaking news and live news updates, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. That gives him an average of 1.28 goal contributions per match. Delhi: With the Ballon DOr ready to be handed to its eventual victor on 17th October 2022 for the 65th time, the French Football Federation will be preparing to hand out voting ballots to journalists across 180 countries, to select their top five picks for the players who they think had the best season. Vinicius scored the winning goal for Carlo Ancellotis side at the Stade de France. All rights reserved. Likewise, if Liverpool win, Salah could become the favourite, and a similar outcome to 2019 could play out with Van Dijk, Alisson and Sadio Mane also breaking the top 10, and potentially Trent Alexander-Arnold too. 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This means that those who vote for the next edition can take into account the Women's European Championship, which takes place from July 6 to 31, 2022, but not the 2022 Men's World Cup in Qatar. Benzema was impressive as Real Madrid secured their record-extending 14th European Cup following a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in Paris. Read more on Latest Sports News on India.com. Unidad Editorial Informacin Deportiva, S.L.U. This means that Messi is unlikely to be considered for the 2022 Ballon d'Or, as PSG have been eliminated in the Champions League's last 16 and he has struggled to deliver in Ligue 1 so far this season. In this article, we detail why he deserves it.Also Read - Former Manchester United Football Star Wayne Rooney Joins MLS Side D.C United As Head Coach, 1. The majority of those changes would actually benefit Benzema. Who are the all-time top scorers in the Champions League? Votes were leaked of that year, with queer voting cards coming to light. However, from now on, the prize will be given to the best player of the season, from August to July. However, he contributed 44 goals and 15 assists in those appearances. However, in 2022, the winner should be only one man. For three straight years from 2016 to 2018, Real Madrid had three in the top 10, which also highlights a trend of centre-backs emerging as contenders Pepe, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane, before Liverpools Virgil van Dijk then pushed Messi close in 2019. Unidad Editorial Informacin Deportiva, S.L.U. Forgot password? He also was the top scorer in La Liga with 27 goals, and the top scorer in the Champions League with 15 goals. In recent weeks, Benzema has received compliments from some of the games eminent figures - legends like Samuel Etoo and rival coaches like Thomas Tchel have heaped praise on him. Blues Boss Todd Boehly Discusses Potential Transfer of Manchester United Legend. ENJOYING THE MOMENT. This also helps Real break a high press, where their defense gets pushed by the opposition, and encouraged to make mistakes. His magic hat, though, was at its maximum power in the Champions League knockouts. Many believe that he deserved to win last years Ballon dOr - in the end, he finished fourth behind Jorginho, Lewandowski and the eventual winner, Leo Messi. After stressing that the Ballon d'Or is an individual award, L'Equipe makes clear that voters should firstly focus mainly on the players' individual performances over collective achievements, which will also be taken into consideration, with the third criterion being the players' ability and sense of fair play. Now you can watch the entire NBA season or your favorite teams on streaming. Up to and including the 2021 edition, the award was awarded on the basis of the players' performances during a calendar year, from January to December. The quartet lead the way with the bookmakers, but the odds will likely change before France Football hand out the award, this year determined by the 2021-22 campaign in its entirety as opposed to the calendar year. This allowed him to pick up the ball in deep areas and drive Real forward, a move that helped the Spanish giants even in the Champions League final. For instance, reducing the number of votes to countries which are considered the elite of world football will hopefully increase the quality of voting. France Football make it clear that the Qatar World Cup will not be a factor in determining who wins the 2022 Ballon dOr. Even in 2021, as people felt the Polish front-man deserved it, the award was given to Argentine forward Lionel Messi. However, from now on, more specialists will participate in the process, including Ballon d'Or ambassador Didier Drogba and the voters who came closer to getting the last edition's results rights. The preliminary list of candidates will no longer be drawn up exclusively by France Football and Lquipe but will now include expert opinions from well known ex-players such as Ballon dOr ambassador Didier Drogba. - Five favourites rated, 2000: Luis Figo (Barcelona/Real Madrid) Champions League semi-finals (with Barcelona), 2001: Michael Owen (Liverpool) Not in Champions League, 2002: Ronaldo (Inter/Real Madrid) Not in Champions League (with Inter), 2003: Pavel Nedved (Juventus) Champions League runners-up, 2004: Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan) Champions League quarter-finals, 2005: Ronaldinho (Barcelona) Champions League last 16, 2006: Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid) Champions League last 16, 2010: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Champions League semi-finals, 2012: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Champions League semi-finals, 2013: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Champions League semi-finals, 2019: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Champions League semi-finals, 2021: Lionel Messi (Barcelona/PSG) Champions League last 16 (with Barcelona), 2002: Real Madrid 3 (Carlos 2nd, Zidane 4th, Raul 7th), 2003: AC Milan 2 (Maldini 3rd, Shevchenko 4th), 2006: Barcelona 2 (Ronaldinho 4th, Etoo 6th), 2009: Barcelona 4 (Messi 1st, Xavi 3rd, Iniesta 4th, Etoo 5th), 2011: Barcelona 3 (Messi 1st, Xavi 3rd, Iniesta 4th), 2013: Bayern Munich 2 (Ribery 3rd, Robben 8th), 2014: Real Madrid 2 (Ronaldo 1st, Di Maria 10th), 2015: Barcelona 4 (Messi 1st, Neymar 3rd, Suarez 5th, Iniesta 9th), 2016: Real Madrid 3 (Ronaldo 1st, Bale 6th, Pepe 9th), 2017: Real Madrid 3 (Ronaldo 1st, Modric 5th, Ramos 6th), 2018: Real Madrid 3 (Modric 1st, Ronaldo 2nd, Varane 7th), 2019: Liverpool 4 (Van Dijk 2nd, Mane 4th, Salah 5th, Alisson 7th), 2021: Chelsea 2 (Jorginho 3rd, Kante 5th). Just at the moment when the stranglehold which Cristiano and Messi have had on individual awards is coming to an end. Throughout the campaign, Benzema has been a source of magic, especially when Real needed it most. Copyright 2022. The other changes concern the voting process.