Fabrizio Romano has responded to last night’s Ballon d’Or results in his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, saying he broadly agrees with the final three, but naming one player he’d like to have seen make it in.
Karim Benzema won the 2022 Ballon d’Or, and few would argue against that decision after his stunning form this year, which played such an instrumental role in Real Madrid winning the Champions League.
In second place was Bayern Munich and former Liverpool star Sadio Mane, while Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne finished in third place.
However, Romano feels that Real Madrid and former Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois deserved a place in the top three after his superb performances this year, whilst also making the point that goalkeepers and defenders are so often overlooked when it comes to these individual awards.
“I agree with the top three, I’d just have included Thibaut Courtois too! He’s been incredible for Real Madrid in the last year and I think goalkeepers and defenders deserve better consideration,” Romano said.
“On Benzema, I think after Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to leave Real something has changed for him and it’s the perfect moment to win such a fantastic award.”
Courtois’ final rank was 7th place, while he did pick up the Yashin award for the best goalkeeper of the year, but you can certainly see Romano’s point about him being underrated.
The Belgian shot-stopper was the man of the match in Real’s Champions League final win over Liverpool, making a series of stunning saves to ensure Carlo Ancelotti’s side kept a clean sheet and held on to their lead to lift the trophy.
See below for the final top 10 in full…
10. Erling Haaland (Manchester City and Norway)
9. Luka Modric (Real Madrid and Croatia)
8. Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid and Brazil)
7. Thibaut Courtis (Real Madrid and Belgium)
6. Kylian Mbappe (PSG and France)
5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt)
4. Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona and Poland)
3. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City and Belgium)
2. Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich and Senegal)
1. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid and France)