Not Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo received this award today for the first time in 12 years

In 2018, Luka Modric won the Ballon d'Or and finished a streak of ten years where the winner was Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Today, another award that looked exclusive for one of them was given to someone else for the first time since 2008.

Since, Lionel Messi won the award seven times, while Cristiano Ronaldo went home with four of them. The award was given to someone who stopped being at Ronaldo's shadow, and took the wheel at Real Madrid. He became one of the leaders and his great performances were finally rewarded.

That is how Karim Benzema won the Alfredo Di Stefano trophy, awarded to the best player of the season in the Spanish League, awarded by the paper Marca. Also, he was given the award to the Hyundai MVP of the League voted by the fans. He was selected over Sergio Ramos and of course, Lionel Messi.

Benzema declared that being the first player who receives this award after the GOATs is a source of pride, because he has been at Real Madrid since 2009, arrived at the same time and CR7, and this is the product of many years of working hard for the team he loves so much.