Karim Benzema, Thibaut Courtois Show Off Ballon d’Or to Real Madrid Teammates in Training

• Real Madrid stars Karim Benzema and Thibaut Courtois returned to training at Real Madrid as heroes after winning the Ballon d'Or awards
• Benzema won the 2022 Ballon d'Or award, producing arguably the best period of his career, following his magnificent 2021-22 season for club and country
• Courtois was adjudged to be the best goalkeeper in the world, fending off competition from Alisson Becker and Ederson

Karim Benzema and Thibaut Courtois were back in training as heroes on Tuesday, just over 12 hours since they won Ballon d'Or awards in France.

The Real Madrid duo returned to training to show off their shiny awards to teammates and manager Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid City, before they started the drills.

Benzema deservedly saw off competition from Sadio Mane, Kevin De Bruyne and Robert Lewandowski to win the world's best player crown.

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He was joined by Courtois, who also had silverware to show off after Monday night's glittering awards ceremony in Paris, France.

The Belgium shot-stopper won the Lev Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper of the 2021/22 season, for his sensational performance with Real Madrid in the Champions League and La Liga. He won the accolade ahead of Alisson Becker, Ederson Moraes and Edouard Mendy.

Vinicius Junior was named in the Ballon d'Or top ten standings 2022, along with Croatia midfield maestro Luka Modric.

The onus will now be on Benzema to prove his worth on Wednesday, when Los Blancos visit Martínez Valero to face Elche CF.

The former Lyon forward was the hot favourite to claim the main prize after an outstanding season, scoring 44 goals in 46 games for Real Madrid including 15 in the UEFA Champions League.

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Benzema played an integral part of Carlo Ancelotti's side winning the Champions League, rounding off a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in May's Paris final.

Twitter users congratulate Karim Benzema

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that football fans took to social media to congratulate Karim Benzema, after the Real Madrid frontman was crowned the 2022 Ballon d'Or winner on Monday, October 17.

Benzema was the icon of the 66th edition of the Ballon d'Or ceremony held at the Theatre du Chatelet, Paris.

He became the fifth French footballer to receive the coveted prize on the back of a spectacular 2021-22 campaign.