Does Karim Benzema deserve the Ballon d'Or ahead of Messi?

Soccer's most prestigious individual awards, the Ballon d'Or returned last night after a one year hiatus due to the coronavirus global pandemic which shut down football for some time last year. France Football cancelled the event.

Lionel Messi lifted his seventh Ballon d'Or, a record extending number last night beating fans favourite Robert Lewandowski to the award and it has generated a lot of mixed reaction of deserved and undeserving remarks. Toni Kroos believes his Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema should have been awarded.

"For me, Benzema should have been No.1 if you were really picking the best individual player from last year, because I see closely how exceptional he is," Toni Kroos said on his podcast, but what does the numbers say, the image below answers the questions.

Lionel Messi bettered Karim Benzema in all stats and numbers under consideration. The only number he has better is games played. He outscored him in the league and trophies won. Benzema's only silverware is a UEFA second grade competition UEFA Nations League. Benzema has nothing on Messi.