Real Madrid is entirely behind Karim Benzema's bid to win the Ballon d'Or in 2021, and the player himself has confessed that he believed he could win the award after seeing his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo routinely win it.
In 2021, Benzema has produced some of the best football of his career, carrying Los Merengues at moments, and he is well within striking distance of Robert Lewandowski, who is widely regarded as the award's favorite.
"It's always been a goal for me, I've always had it in my head," Benzema told ESPN. "When Cristiano Ronaldo won it, I believed I could win it too."
"Due to what I've done here in the last three or four years, I can claim that I've never been so close to winning it because of my performances.
"I'm not that far away," says the narrator.
The forthcoming Clasico will be the first since Lionel Messi left Barcelona, putting an end to the Messi/Ronaldo era of meetings between the two arch-rivals, but Benzema believes the match's grandeur will not be diminished.
"Everything remains the same for me; this is still the best match in football," he continued.
"It makes no difference who is present, who has left, or who will join in the future.
"There was [Zinedine] Zidane and Ronaldinho before Cristiano and Messi." Players come and go, but Real Madrid vs. Barcelona will always be Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, regardless of who plays."
Benzema has been noted as peaking considerably later than many of his contemporaries, which he attributes to his fitness.
"Physically, I feel wonderful," he said, "and the more time goes, the better I feel."
"It's mostly about the experience and, since I became 30, unseen work," she says.
"Everything you do after training when you get home is seriousness and professionalism, and you have to learn to enjoy all of your work, not just the stuff that happens on the field."
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