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Real Madrid: Where does Karim Benzema rank amongst the Ballon d’Or favourites?

By Ranoveer Neogi

Real Madrid, Karim Benzema (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)
Real Madrid, Karim Benzema (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Chelsea, Jorginho (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Chelsea, Jorginho (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images) /

4. JORGINHO – CHELSEA

Had someone told me at the start of the 2020-21 season that Jorginho would compete for the Ballon d’Or alongside the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, I would have thought that person is crazy.

But here we are today, Jorginho is not only a Champions League winner with Chelsea but also a European champion with Italy after defeating England in the Euro 2020 final and is now a clear contestant for the Ballon d’Or.

The 29-year-old played an important role under Thomas Tuchel last season in winning the Champions League by playing 12 out of the 13 games and leading the midfield as well. He was a key player for Roberto Mancini’s Italy team by completing the second-highest number of passes in the Euro (497) with a pass accuracy of 93% and recovered the most number of balls (46). Jorginho owned and controlled the midfield at the Euros and was arguably one of the best midfielders in the competition.

His efforts with the club and the national team earned him the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award for the 2020-2021 season. Many Italian journalists and managers believe that Jorginho deserves to win the Ballon d’Or this year but I beg to differ as he stands nowhere close to the other contestants who are far ahead in the race to win it.

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