For the AS newspaper, Karim Benzema now has “the free way” for the Ballon d’Or

Benzema fifth Frenchman to win the Ballon d’Or? For the Spanish daily AS, with his 38th goal in as many matches this season, his 12th in the Champions League this season, Benzema now has “the clear way” to become the fifth French player to win the Ballon d’Or, after Raymond Kopa (1958), Michel Platini (1983, 1984, 1985), Jean-Pierre Papin (1991) and Zinedine Zidane (1998). “Real Madrid’s qualification for the semi-finals opens Benzema’s path to the ultimate individual award that exists in football: the Ballon d’Or. The majority of his supposed rivals are out of the race: Messi and Mbappé fell to Real at the Bernabeu, with a hat-trick from Karim, Cristiano Ronaldo fell to Atlético, Haaland is out of the game… and the last to join the club is Robert Lewandowski, whose Bayern lost in the quarter-finals to Villarreal ”, writes this Wednesday morning AS. Only Salah, Mané or De Bruyne, among the players still involved in the Champions League, seem able to worry the Blues striker. Thursday morning, after Atlético de Madrid – Manchester City and Liverpool – Benfica, Karim Benzema could be even more alone on his planet.