Real Madrid and France striker Karim Benzema has been named this season’s UEFA Champions League Player of the Season. UEFA announced the striker as the most valuable player on their official website UEFA.com. “UEFA’s Technical Observer panel has named Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema as the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League Player of the Season.
Karim Benzema Named Uefa Player of the Season
“The French striker was a talismanic figure for Madrid as he drove them on to a record 14th European title, and his fifth since he joined from Lyon in 2009. Not only did Benzema hit double figures for Champions League goals in a single season for the first time in his career, but his final tally of 15 also earned him the top spot in the competition scoring charts.
“Remarkably, a joint-record ten of those goals came in the knockout stage, beginning with a decisive late hat-trick against Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16. “He followed up with another treble away to Chelsea and then buried the extra-time winner to oust the holders in Spain, before a trio of goals against Manchester City in the semi-finals – including the extra-time penalty that capped a jaw-dropping comeback.
Although Karim Benzema did not score in the final he now stands joint third with Bayern Munich Robert Lewandowski in the all-time European Cup goals table. Also, the UEFA’s Technical Observer panel named Brazilian young star Vinícius Júnior as the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League Young Player of the Season.
Vinicius Jnr was the hero for Madrid after netting the winning goal in the 1-0 win against Liverpool in Saturday’s final.
