PARIS (Reuters) – Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema won the Ballon d’Or award for the best player in the world on Monday, beating Robert Lewandowski, Sadio Mane and Kevin De Bruyne to the top prize.
Benzema, who played a pivotal role in Real’s run to the Champions League title last season, is the first French player to win the trophy since Zinedine Zidane in 1998.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot and Rohith Nair)
