It is either him or no one.

Seeing the Balon d Or nominees for 2022 brought back the memories of how I felt when Lewandoski was robbed of the award in 2021, I don't know if the word "rob" is the right word to use but that was what I felt happened in 2021. I see no reason why he didn't win the award and compensating him with the Balon d Or striker of the year doesn't make any sense.

The Polish striker without an argument was the best player in the world that season and after Lionel Messi won the award, it became unclear to me what the criteria were for a player to win the award.

The award didn't hold in 2020 but Lewandoski's performance between 2019 and the award was exceptional, the goals and titles were proof of his hard work and not winning the award on that big night left me with many unanswered questions.

Is there something we don't know about the award?

The 2022 nominees are all outstanding players and my favorite player for the award is Karim Benzema even before the list was released. The experience from the last award night got me wondering if the secret criteria could also rob Benzema of the title.

Robert Lewandoski won six titles in the 2019/20 football season which included three domestic titles, two European titles, and the FIFA World club cup, he scored 34 goals in the League, 15 in the UEFA Champions League, and 6 more in DFB Pokal.

These stats are basically more than what Karim Benzema did in the 2021/22 season and it wouldn't be too painful if for some reason if they give the biggest personal football award to someone else aside from the Frenchman but the award changes nothing about the love that the real football fanatics have for the players who really deserves the award.

I admire Karim Benzema a lot, the way he improves every season is outstanding. At 34, a lot is not expected from players anymore but it is different in the case of Karim Benzema who led Real Madrid to one of their great seasons. His impact on the Madrid squad can't be quantified, the way he grooms the team and inspires them is awesome.

He is a leader who leads by example, he goes into every match with high spirits and he easily influences every player in his team, he is always up and running. His club UEFA Champions League journey for the previous season has a lot of awesome comebacks and this one man called Karim Benzema name can't be left out of any of the magic moments we saw in Real Madrid's journey to win the title.

He is one of the players who have proven that age is just a number and I doubt if he will be stopping anytime soon. The likes of Rodrygo, Vinicius, and many others have improved playing alongside the Frenchman, you can see the energy these boys bring in every match as well.

Lionel Messi missed out on the nominee list for the first time in a long while, the seven-time Balon d Or winner didn't make the list but there are still regular faces who are qualified for the award.

Surprisingly Cristiano Ronaldo made the list, the Portuguese forward hasn't been enjoying the recent days of his career. Hopefully, the nomination would breathe some life back into his career and it might probably be his last.

It is either Benzema or nobody, the dignity of the award would be ruined if the Frenchman fails to win the award. His contribution to Real Madrid's achievement in the 2021/22 is been recognized by a lot of football fans across the world and the majority of the people will want him to add the award to his collection.

I stopped watching Spanish football for some reason but this man made me watch the La Liga again, his strength, speed, pace, goal-scoring abilities, and selflessness would make you fall in love with him. The big day is approaching and I wish him the best of luck and a beautiful 2022/23 season.

The image was taken from twitter designed by me.