Karim Benzema (2022) and Luka Modric (2018) were the only players to win the Ballon d’Or during Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s reign (2008 to 2023).
When Benzema was playing for Real Madrid, Lionel Messi was playing for his rival club: Barça. The Argentine later ended up joining PSG before finally leaving Europe.
Today, Messi was playing in MLS at Inter Miami, while Benzema left Real Madrid to join the Saudi league.
These two legends have never played in the same club. However, they appreciate each other enormously. Benzema mentioned this during an interview that went viral on September 19, 2024.
” My relationship with Messi is good, I respect him and he respects me. I appreciate him a lot for what he has done in his football career.
He was one of those who congratulated me when I won the Ballon d’Or in 2022.”said the Real Madrid hero in the Champions League in 2022.
“Messi was with my former teammate Di Maria and he sent me a voice message and said: ‘Congratulations, you deserve it’.
I told him : “Thank you, it’s a beautiful feeling. You’ve felt it seven times. I think it’s become normal for you.”he added.
Benzema continued his remarks by saying: “Messi is a humble player. He won it eight times and despite that, he congratulated me.
For me, it’s the best in the world because the debate over who is the best has been settled in its favor.” .
