Real Madrid will be present at the FIFA gala for The Best awards on Monday evening with an extremely limited delegation, reports Mark. The Royal fears that rescheduling the gala will ensure that it will mainly be an ‘Argentine party’ around Lionel Messi. The star of Paris Saint-Germain is probably voted the best player of the past year after winning the World Cup.
Karim Benzema was awarded the Ballon d’Or in November, but will suffer the disadvantages of moving the awards for FIFA Men’s Best on Monday. The world football association thus emphasized the World Cup in Qatar, where Messi excelled. Benzema was absent from France due to an injury and sees the prize pass by. The striker refuses to give an appearance at the gala in Paris. Benzema ends according to Mark second in the standings for The Best, while Kylian Mbappé comes in third.
Benzema will be part of the best team of the year, just like his teammates Thibaut Courtois and Luka Modric. The two other stars of Real also miss the gala. Emilio Butragueño, the club’s director of institutional relations, is the only Real representative who has traveled to the French capital. At Real, incidentally, the absence of Vinícius Júnior in the team is viewed with surprise, a choice that will also be related to the last World Cup. There Vinícius could not convince with Brazil, after the left striker had made his big breakthrough on the world stage at Real in the previous year.
On behalf of Barcelona, president Joan Laporta is present at the gala in Paris. Alèxia Putellas, the star of the women’s team of the Catalans, will be voted The Best there. In November, Putellas also took off with the Ballon d’Or, which she won for the second time. The gala will start on Monday evening with a tribute to Pelé, who passed away on December 29 at the age of 82. Former striker and compatriot Ronaldo has been invited as a special guest.