18
Oct
On Monday, the French striker won the prestigious individual award for the first time after helping Real Madrid to emerge champions of Spain and Europe. The 34-year-old impressively scored 44 goals in 46 matches and was the top scorer in both La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. For his reward, he was crowned the Ballon d’Or winner ahead of Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne. Essien, who played with Benzema at Madrid under Jose Mourinho, took to social media to congratulate the Frenchman on his achievement. “You deserve the Ballon d’Or. Congratulation Mon Karim Benzema,” the…