Jose Mourinho claims Karim Benzema is "obsessed with his team" - which is what helped him win the Ballon d'Or at the age of 34.
The Real Madrid star became the fifth Frenchman to claim the individual accolade after his sensational year in Spain. Benzema was the leading light for Los Blancos as they won LaLiga and the Champions League, with those exploits helping the forward claim the Golden Ball.
Benzema became the oldest winner of the award since Sir Stanley Matthews, the first recipient back in 1956, which underlines his journey to the top. Mourinho managed the Frenchman during his three years at the Bernabeu, when Cristiano Ronaldo was the team's main man.
It was only after Ronaldo left that Benzema assumed the mantle of being Madrid's leading light. That responsibility has seen him reach new heights, but Mourinho maintains that the forward's desire to put the team first was behind his wait for the prestigious award.
The Special One said in a tribute to Benzema: "Karim is a great character, great personality, a team guy. He is not obsessed with himself, he is not obsessed with the Ballon d'Or, he is not a guy obsessed with scoring more goals than A, B or C. He is just a team guy who does a lot in a way that the Ballon d'Or that becomes a natural consequence. I think he is a guy obsessed with his team."
Benzema paid tribute to his teammates after receiving the award, which was presented by 1998 winner Zinedine Zidane. The forward said that his accolade could not have been achieved without the efforts of his teammates. He said: The Ballon d'Or is an individual prize but it is still a collective one for everyone who's helped me win it."
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Benzema enjoyed the most prolific season of his career, finding the net 44 times across all competitions. He shone in the Champions League with his goals helping Los Blancos win heavyweight ties against PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City en route to lifting the trophy. He also joined an exclusive club by becoming only the fourth man to score hat-tricks in successive games in the European Cup.
The Frenchman hailed his two role models - Zidane and Ronaldo - having received the award. He said: “This makes me really proud, all the work I did, I never gave up. I had two role models in my life, Zidane and Ronaldo as well. I always had this dream in my mind that everything’s possible. There was a difficult period where I wasn’t in the French team but I worked hard and never gave up, kept my head down and enjoyed playing football."
