Tennis superstar Rafael Nadal has backed Real Madrid superstar Karim Benzema to win Ballon d’Or 2021, snubbing the likes of football superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Ballon d’Or award ceremony is set to take place on November 29 in Paris. In the midst of Messi being touted as the favourite to win the award, Nadal wants French man Karim Benzema to be recognised for his performances in recent years.

The 20-time Grand Slam title winner is a huge Real Madrid fan and he is also one of the honorary board members of the Spanish football club. Nadal took his Twitter account to explain why Karim Benzema should win the prestigious award this year. Nadal in his tweet said, Benzema has his admiration as aplayer, the professionalism and commitment he shows at this age is very commendable. He wished good luck for the Real Madrid star and said that his support for the Ballon d’Or goes to Karim Benzema.

Notably, ever since the departure of the club legend Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018, Karim Benzema has emerged as the talisman for Madrid, and is currently the Europe’s top goal scorer in 2021-22 season, netting 9 goals in the league.

Not only for Real Madrid, but the Frenchman has also been in the form for his national team and has won his first title with France National Team, after beating Spain in the UEFA Nations League final.

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Recently, France Football released the 30 shortlisted names for the prestigious award, which also includes Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski, and many others.

Here’s the list of shortlisted candidates for Ballon d’Or 2021.

Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)

Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan)

Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)

Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)

Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)

Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United/Juventus)

Ruben Dias (Manchester City)

Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain)

Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)

Phil Foden (Manchester City)

Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)

Jorginho (Chelsea)

Harry Kane (Tottenham)

N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)

Simon Kjaer (AC Milan)

Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea/Inter Milan)

Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)

Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)

Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)

Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain/Barcelona)

Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

Gerard Moreno (Villarreal)

Mason Mount (Chelsea)

Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)

Pedri (Barcelona)

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid)

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