Vinicius Junior says "there are no words" to describe Karim Benzema's form as he backed his Real Madrid team-mate to win this year's Ballon d'Or.
Benzema, on his 600th appearance for Madrid, scored twice in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to Manchester City in their Champions League semi-final first leg at the Etihad Stadium.
The France international's first was a difficult twisting finish to drag Madrid back in the game at 2-0 down and the second a calm Panenka penalty late on to leave the tie well poised.
He now has 41 goals in as many games for Los Blancos this season, a tally bettered only by Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski (48 in 43) across Europe's top five leagues.
The 34-year-old is the fifth Madrid player to score over 40 goals in a single season, after Cristiano Ronaldo, Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo Di Stefano and Hugo Sanchez.
Benzema also leads the scoring charts in the Champions League this term with 14, one more than Lewandowski, whose Bayern side were eliminated by Villarreal at the quarter-final stage.
Having finished behind Lionel Messi, Lewandowski and Jorginho in last year's Ballon d'Or, Vinicius insists Benzema should land the 2022 award.
"There are no words that can describe how Benzema is playing," Vinicius said. "He deserves the Ballon d'Or.
"I hope my brother Benzema ends up winning LaLiga, the Champions League and Ballon d'Or."
Benzema scored a hat-trick in the second leg of the last-16 win over Paris Saint-Germain and another treble in the first leg of the quarter-final victory against Chelsea.
His nine goals in the knockout stages has been bettered only once in a single Champions League campaign – Ronaldo scoring 10 in the 2016-17 edition.
Vinicius is not alone in backing Benzema to win the Ballon d'Or, with former team-mate Mesut Ozil tweeting on Tuesday: "Give my boy Benzi the Ballon D'Or."
Ex-Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand agreed with that assessment, quoting the tweet and adding the word "Facts".
That post by Ferdinand was liked by Benzema, whose prospects of being crowned the world's best player could be bolstered by helping France to World Cup glory in December.
Rather than bask in his glorious form, however, the prolific striker accepts his side have a lot of work to do if they are to advance any further in this season's competition.
"A defeat is never good, but we are excited about this Champions League and the important thing is we never give up," he told Movistar+.
"Now we have to go to the Bernabeu and we need the fans like never before to do something magical, which is to win.
"We entered the game without confidence, and that's what happens with an opponent like Manchester City. In this game a little bit of everything was missing."
On this day in 2021: Spurs sack Jose Mourinho days before Carabao Cup final
Jose Mourinho was sacked as manager of Tottenham on this day in 2021, less than a week before he was due to lead them out for the Carabao Cup final.
Spurs’ Premier League form was what ultimately cost the Portuguese his job, with his last match in charge a 2-2 draw with Everton which left Tottenham seventh, five points off the Champions League places and with just one win from their last five league games.
Mourinho’s dismissal after just 17 months at the helm was announced hours after Tottenham had confirmed they intended to join a breakaway European Super League, plans that were swiftly aborted after fans’ backlash, although that was unrelated to the Portuguese’s axing.
The 58-year-old was denied the chance of delivering the club’s first piece of silverware in 13 years, with academy coach Ryan Mason put in caretaker charge as Tottenham lost 1-0 to Manchester City in the EFL Cup showpiece.
Spurs striker Harry Kane, whose form that season had been a bright spot with 47 goal contributions in 43 games, wrote on Twitter: “Thank you for everything Boss. A pleasure to have worked together. I wish you all the best for your next chapter.”
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy spoke of his regret following Mourinho’s departure, having long coveted the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss.
Levy said on the club’s official website: “Jose and his coaching staff have been with us through some of our most challenging times as a club.
“Jose is a true professional who showed enormous resilience during the (Covid-19) pandemic. On a personal level I have enjoyed working with him and regret that things have not worked out as we both had envisaged.
“He will always be welcome here and we should like to thank him and his coaching staff for their contribution.”
Mason remained steward until the end of the season before making way for Mourinho’s fellow Portuguese Nuno Espirito Santo, who had a disappointing four-month spell in charge
FC Halifax back in the play-off places after draw with Oldham
FC Halifax moved back into the play-off places in the National League as Adan George rescued a point in a 2-2 draw at home to Oldham.
The visitors took the lead in the 18th minute through Dan Gardner’s half-volley from a corner before Rob Harker levelled for the home side a minute into first-half stoppage time, smashing the ball home.
Oldham were awarded a penalty when Joe Garner was fouled in the box and Gardner restored Latics’ lead from the penalty spot in the 58th minute, but The Shaymen levelled again in the 72nd minute through substitute George’s smart finish from a narrow angle.
Halifax climb back into the play-off spots on goal difference where they are tied on 68 points with Aldershot, while Oldham remain 10th.
Harry Kane savours Champions League ‘war’ with England team-mate Jude Bellingham
Harry Kane is ready to go into battle against Jude Bellingham for a spot in the Champions League final before the pair aim to lead England to Euro 2024 glory.
England captain Kane moved to Bayern Munich from Tottenham last year while Bellingham left Borussia Dortmund to join Real Madrid.
Both helped their respective clubs to Champions League quarter-final wins over Premier League sides on Wednesday night as Bayern beat Arsenal and Real saw off Manchester City on penalties. Bellingham scored in that shoot-out while Kane netted a first-leg spot-kick at the Emirates Stadium.
Those wins tee up a mouth-watering semi-final clash between two clubs who have won 20 European Cups between them.
Despite Arsenal and City being eliminated, meaning the first semi-final line-up since 2020 with no Premier League clubs, Kane believes there will still be plenty of English interest in how he and Bellingham fare.
“Jude has had a fantastic season, he’s a top player,” he said.
“I’m really happy for him but it will be another war against his team – but that’s the experiences that we both went abroad to try to achieve, to play in these big nights in the Champions League, to play in these big semi-finals.
“It will be one to enjoy and I’m sure there will be a lot of English fans watching both of us. We have to focus on ourselves. Of course, I’ll say hello but once we’re on the pitch, it’s business.”
Kane is still yet to win a major trophy in his career and also has the added incentive of the Champions League final taking place at Wembley on June 1, with either Dortmund or Paris St Germain awaiting the winner of Real and Bayern.
“For both of us, for sure,” Kane replied when asked if Wembley is the dream for him and Bellingham.
“With Wembley being our national stadium, it’s extra motivation there for us but there are two games ahead of us before that, which are going to be really tough so we have to focus on that.
“Real Madrid are a big club with amazing history in the Champions League so it’s going to be a really difficult game for us.
“But that’s what the semi-finals of the Champions League are all about, the biggest teams, so we enjoy this tonight and then prepare for that game in a couple of weeks.”
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