Thibaut Courtois has stated his belief that Karim Benzema should win the Ballon d’Or this season after the striker scored a hat-trick to spark Real Madrid ’s comeback win over Paris Saint-Germain.
Los Blancos hosted the Ligue 1 table toppers in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 clash on Wednesday, needing to turn around a one-goal deficit.
Madrid struggled at first, with Kylian Mbappe doubling the visitors’ lead on aggregate when he set racing clear by a beautiful pass from Neymar before firing past Courtois at his near-post.
But the second-half, and the final 30 minutes of the game in particular, was a totally different story, with Benzema inspiring the La Liga giants to a famous comeback at the Bernabeu.
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First, he closed down Gianluigi Donnarumma and pressured the Italian keeper into sending a clearance across the face of goal and straight into the path of Vinicius.
The Brazilian took a touch before pulling the ball back to Benzema on the edge of the six-yard box, with the Frenchman halving the deficit.
Fifteen minutes later, Benzema levelled the tie when Luka Modric burst through a non-existent PSG midfield before slipping the striker through.
Benzema had been left unmarked by the visitors’ defence and once again fired past Donnarumma.
And the Frenchman sparked more wild celebrations straight from the kick-off after that goal when he unleashed a first-time shot past the PSG keeper after an awful clearance by Marquinhos.
Those goals means that Benzema became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League at the age of 34 years and 80 days.
His hat-trick strike was his 28th goal of the season, taking him above Alfredo di Stefano on Madrid’s all-time scorers list.
And having inspired his side to an epic comeback win, Benzema was also tipped to win this year’s Ballon d’Or by Courtois.
“I believe he is one of the greatest players in the world, the best nines maybe with Lewandowski right now,” the Belgian told RMC Sport.
“I think he showed why he should, maybe, win the Ballon d'Or this year. He's a great player, a real captain, he led the team to victory with his goals and his class.”
Benzema has never won the Ballon d’Or, nor finished in the top three, though he did finish fourth in the 2021 award.
Courtois’ praise follows that of former Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand, who named Benzema as the world’s most complete number nine.
“We were all salivating over Kylian Mbappe - the most devastating player at the moment,” he told BT Sport.
“But in the second half Karim Benzema comes out and says 'no, no, no I'm not done yet!' He bangs in a hat-trick.
“Benzema is the most complete number nine for me. He does every part of the game fantastically well.”
Benzema’s goals have fired Madrid to the top of the La Liga table and they will now wait until a week on Friday to find out who they will face in the Champions League quarter-finals.
