Archive photo of Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema,© AFP
Karim Benzema and Alexia Putellas were rewarded for outstanding seasons at a ceremony in Istanbul on Thursday by winning the UEFA Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year awards. French striker Benzema led Real Madrid to victory over Liverpool in the Champions League final, scoring 15 goals in the competition, while Putellas was the top scorer in the Women’s Champions League, helping Barcelona reach the final they lost to Lyon. Benzema took the men’s honors ahead of club mate Thibaut Courtois and Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, succeeding Chelsea midfielder Jorginho who won the award last year.
The 34-year-old scored hat-tricks against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea in the knockout rounds of the Champions League and scored three times over the two legs of the semi-final against Manchester City.
He struck 44 times in 46 games, while Real also won the Spanish title.
Putellas, 28, claimed the award for the second year in a row, despite a serious knee injury that kept her out of the 2022 European Championship.
She finished ahead of English forward and European champion Beth Mead, the tournament’s joint top scorer, and young German midfielder Lena Oberdorf.
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Carlo Ancelotti was named best coach for men for his success at Real, with Dutch Sarina Wiegman being crowned best coach for women after leading England to Euro glory at home last month.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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