Real Madrid can look forward to two more awards after winning the Champions League: Karim Benzema is the club’s European Footballer of the Year, and former FC Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti is also the Coach of the Year.
Late honor for Karim Benzema: The 34-year-old striker from Real Madrid has been voted Europe’s footballer of the year after his dream season with the royal team. The Frenchman prevailed in the election of the European Football Union UEFA against his team-mate Thibaut Courtois (Belgium) and his compatriot Kevin De Bruyne from Manchester City. The continent’s best soccer player is world soccer player Alexia Putellas (FC Barcelona), who finished ahead of German international Lena Oberdorf (VfL Wolfsburg) and England’s European champion Beth Mead (FC Arsenal). “I am very grateful and I thank my team and my club,” Benzema said on stage at Istanbul’s Haliç Congress Center. “I am very happy.”
For the coaches, Real’s Champions League winner Carlo Ancelotti (Italy) won, beating Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool) and Pep Guardiola (Spain/Manchester City). Among the coaches, national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg lost out to winner Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands), who had triumphed with England in the final against Germany at the European Championships. Sonia Bompastor (France/Olympique Lyon) was also nominated.
Benzema had towered over Real’s Champions League triumph last season. The Frenchman has scored 10 of his 15 goals in the premier class in the knockout stages – starting with the hat-trick in the round of 16 against Paris Saint-Germain. In the quarter-final second leg against Chelsea, the Frenchman secured progress with his goal in extra time. In the semi-finals, Manchester City again scored three goals with a penalty in extra time to reach the final.
