Benzema’s superb campaign was rewarded on Monday night (Picture: Getty)
Manchester United defender Raphael Varane has congratulated Karim Benzema after the striker scooped the 2022 Ballon d’Or.
The Real Madrid striker was awarded world football’s biggest individual prize in a ceremony in his native France on Monday night after a sublime 2021-22 season.
Benzema played an instrumental role in Real’s Champions League success last May, winning the competition for a fifth time.
Four of those he won playing alongside Varane, who left Los Blancos in the summer of 2021 to join United after a decade in the Spanish capital.
Sharing a picture of himself alongside Benzema on Instagram following the announcement, Varane wrote: ‘Congratulations my bro! You deserve it. What a player!’
At 34, Benzema is the oldest Ballon d’Or winner since Stanley Matthews in 1956.
‘Age is just a number for me,’ he said shortly after being handed the trophy by France legend Zinedine Zidane.
‘People play until their later years now and I still have this burning desire. It is this drive that has kept me going and never allowed me to let up. It kept this dream alive and was the fire behind me. I just want to make the most if it.’
Benzema scored 44 goals in 46 games for Real last season with 27 of those coming in La Liga.
His best form came in the Champions League, however, where he struck 15 times in 12 appearances.
After bagging five in the group stages, Benzema shone on the biggest occasions, scoring a stunning 17-minute hat-trick as Real came from behind to eliminate Paris Saint-Germain in a remarkable comeback in the last 16 stage.
He repeated the trick in the quarter-final first leg victory over Chelsea, adding another in the return fixture that sent his side through to the semi-finals.
He bagged another three across two legs against Manchester City with teammate Vinicius Jr scoring the only goal of the game against Liverpool in the final.
MORE : Real Madrid star Karim Benzema crowned 2022 Ballon d’Or winner
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Benzema picked up the award on Monday night.