Game 5 of the ALDS series between the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Guardians has been pushed back to Tuesday after the scheduled fixture on Monday was rained out.

The teams are tied at 2-2 through four games after Gerrit Cole pitched seven innings with eight strikeouts to help the Yankees extend the series with a 4-2 win in Sunday's Game 4.

For the Yankees, Jameson Taillon was scheduled to start in the series decider, while Aaron Civale was set to take the hill for the Guardians. It is not yet known if the extra day of rest will impact the decision on the game's starters.

The winner of Game 5 will play the Houston Astros in the ALCS, with Game 1 scheduled for Wednesday.

The Miami Dolphins are preparing to have Tua Tagovailoa return as the team’s starting quarterback for their Week 7 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters Monday.  

Tagovailoa resumed football activities last week and cleared concussion protocols on Saturday, but remained inactive during Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings.  

"The plan is for him to approach the game as the starter," McDaniel said. “He'll be able to get those reps on Wednesday… we felt really good about how he was able to get back on the field."

Tagovailoa last had a full week of practice in Week 3 and has been inactive since being carted off the field with a concussion on September 29.  

The Dolphins jumped out to a 3-0 start this season, and their third-year quarterback appeared on his way to a career year. Miami is 0-3 since, and McDaniel is hoping that having Tagovailoa under center again will help the team find its way back in the win column.  

"He's a captain. He's a captain for a reason, and as I've told you guys from the onset, I think he's a very, very good player at that position," McDaniel said. "So very good players, they definitely give people a boost – not because of what other people aren't but more just because he is who he is.  

"So he's a strong fabric of this team, and that's exciting when you get to go play with one of your brothers, which is why the team will be excited, and it will be exciting." 

Tagovailoa’s first injury of the season came on September 25 when he took a hit from Buffalo Bills linebacker Matt Milano and appeared to hit his head on the ground. He stumbled when he got up and was immediately taken to the locker room to be evaluated for a concussion.  

He returned to the game shortly thereafter and was not in the concussion protocol the following week, despite questions about why he was allowed to return to the game after displaying motor impairment.   

Just four days later, Tagovailoa was slammed to the turf by Cincinnati Bengals lineman Josh Tupou in a startling scene that has left many to question the NFL's efforts to minimize head and neck injuries, and led to the league altering their concussion protocol to prevent a similar situation from happening again.

Both injuries occurred after Tagovailoa extended plays outside the pocket.

"There's risks in this game and you've got to be able to control the controllables," McDaniel said. "One thing for him is you love his competitive nature, but there is a time in a play where you have to kind of concede, and that's where he's kind of been focusing on because it's something that's not natural to him.

"He wants to break every tackle, and he doesn't like when plays don't work. Well, sometimes they won't. 

"So that's something that he's mindful of, and I think that that's a consistency of all the really great quarterbacks that you think of, the guys that you look up to, the guys that kind of set forth the example of how to play the position, they do find ways to be available.

"Part of that is that concession, but that is – all things considered, that's probably a good problem to have in terms of a competitor. You just need to be able to understand your importance to the team and how sometimes the best play you can make is a throwaway."

Washington Commanders starting quarterback Carson Wentz has undergone surgery after fracturing the ring finger on his throwing hand.

Wentz, who led his team to an uninspiring 12-7 win on Sunday against the Chicago Bears to take a 2-4 record into Week 7, has been disappointing since arriving in Washington in the offseason.

In that contest, he suffered the injury when his hand was hit hard during the follow-through of a throw in the second quarter, clearly causing him discomfort, although he never left the game.

Only two quarterbacks – Matthew Stafford and Matt Ryan – have thrown more interceptions than Wentz's six this season, and he is tied with Chicago Bears second-year starter Justin Fields as the most sacked quarterback in the league (23 times).

The report from ESPN states the Commanders are unsure about how much time Wentz will have to miss, although they have a capable backup in Taylor Heinicke, as well as rookie Sam Howell who impressed in preseason.

Heinicke started 16 games last season for a 7-9 record, throwing 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions while also showing his mobility with a 95-yard rushing game against the Green Bay Packers.

The Commanders sit at least two wins behind the three other teams in the NFC East, but can move one step closer to a .500 record with a home win against the Packers this Sunday.

Trent Alexander-Arnold will come through his difficult start to this season and "be a better player for it".

That is the opinion of former Liverpool striker John Aldridge, who discussed Alexander-Arnold's recent struggles in an exclusive interview with Stats Perform.

The right-back's performances have been scrutinised since the start of the campaign following a series of lax defensive displays.

Alexander-Arnold already faced a battle to make England's World Cup squad before contributing to Liverpool's underwhelming results.

Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate did not use Alexander-Arnold in the September internationals as he explained squad rival Kieran Trippier's "all-round game is ahead".

Until this season, Alexander-Arnold's club form had at least been consistent, and Aldridge is confident he will soon be back to his best.

"You're looking at one of the best full-backs in the world," Aldridge told Stats Perform. "Attacking wise, [he is] the best full-back in the world, without a doubt.

"He's a local lad. He's focused. He just needs to learn a bit about the defensive responsibilities he has.

"But he's got to be allowed to do what he does, and he's been let down by players in front of him and the midfield that don't cover for him as well this year, in my opinion.

"So, it's not entirely his fault, but he seems to be getting the finger pointed at him all the time, and what Gareth Southgate did to him, I don't think that did him any good at all.

"He's a young lad, this is the first time he's gone through anything like this. Everything's been rosy for him.

"And you've got to learn how to take the rough with the smooth in football, and he will come out of this, and he will be a better player for it."

Alexander-Arnold could yet go to Qatar with England next month, with Kyle Walker and Reece James both injured.

Aldridge added: "I think Reece James is out now by all accounts. Will he take Trent? If he doesn't take him, he's not the manager I thought he was, and I think he's done a very good job for England, Gareth.

"From my personal point of view, I'm going to be selfish and say I hope he doesn't go. But if he wants to go, I hope he goes."

Pep Guardiola's claim Manchester City's goal against Liverpool was ruled out due to the game being played at Anfield suggests he is "trying to be the new Alex Ferguson", John Aldridge has told Stats Perform.

City lost for the first time in the Premier League this season on Sunday, with Mohamed Salah's strike the difference in a 1-0 Liverpool win.

But Guardiola's side earlier appeared to have taken the lead when Phil Foden scored, only for the play to be called back following a VAR review.

Erling Haaland's tug on Fabinho's shirt was spotted in the build-up, with Liverpool awarded a foul that Guardiola felt was at odds with the spirit the rest of the fixture was played in.

Referee Anthony Taylor told City's coaching staff he was "not going to make fouls", according to Guardiola, whose explanation for the initial decision being overturned was simple: "This is Anfield."

Former Liverpool striker Aldridge, speaking to Stats Perform in an exclusive interview, felt this siege mentality was a tactic from the playbook of legendary Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.

"He's trying to be the new Alex Ferguson, I think," Aldridge said. "Anfield is Anfield, but that referee didn't succumb to the Anfield atmosphere.

"He gave some bad decisions against Liverpool as well. He gave that decision for Man City, it was only the VAR [that spotted the foul].

"It's swings and roundabouts. Last week we were at the VAR's detriment against Arsenal on three occasions; this week we got the break.

"In our day, I have to say that wouldn't have been a foul, but in the modern day he's pulled him down with the shirt, everyone's seen, and it was a foul.

"From a centre-forward's point of view, if it happened to Liverpool, I'd be going mad, but I can see why he pulled it back.

"He was always going to argue with that, Pep, and it's them decisions that win you games. If that had been allowed, we might have got a draw, but we certainly wouldn't have won the game."

Holger Rune maintained his impressive form by beating Thiago Monteiro in straight sets to reach the second round of the Stockholm Open on Monday.

Rune was beaten by Marc-Andrea Huesler in the final of the last tournament he entered in Sofia following a quarter-final appearance in Metz.

The Danish teenager, who last week announced Patrick Mouratoglou had joined his team for the rest of this season, defeated Monteiro 7-5 6-2 on his debut in the Swedish capital.

Rune did not face a break point and won 86 per cent of points on his first serve as he booked a meeting with Cristian Garin.

Garin beat qualifier Jason Kubler 6-2 6-4, while Maxime Cressy and Aslan Karatsev advanced to the last 16 at the expense of Ilya Ivashka and Lukas Rosol respectively.

Richard Gasquet consigned Stan Wawrinka to an early exit at the European Open, coming from a set down to win 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in a battle of two of the most experienced players on the circuit.

Fifth seed Dan Evans beat Tallon Griekspoor 6-3 6-4 in the first round in Antwerp, while his fellow Brit Jack Draper was an emphatic 6-1 6-2 winner against Jenson Brooksby of the United States.

Last season, the Buffalo Bills looked to have cracked the code of how to topple the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Bills beat the Chiefs 38-20 in Arrowhead Stadium in Week 5 of 2021, averaging 8.1 yards per play to Kansas City's 5.0, frustrating Patrick Mahomes and intercepting him twice in a display that suggested the balance of power in the AFC was about to shift.

Yet it proved a false dawn, with the Bills unable to contain Mahomes in the Divisional Round of the playoffs and famously failing to prevent him leading the Chiefs down the field in 13 seconds for a game-tying field goal that forced overtime in arguably the finest playoff game in NFL history.

While that game confirmed Josh Allen as existing on Mahomes' level among the NFL elite at quarterback, throwing for 329 yards and four touchdowns, it also was an irritating illustration of the Bills' lack of closers on defense.

The Bills pressured Mahomes 23 times but managed to sack him just twice, a dreadful conversion rate that prompted Buffalo to hand a six-year, $133million contract to 33-year-old edge rusher Von Miller.

Though Buffalo can get out of the contract much earlier, the length of the deal handed to Miller raised eyebrows, with the Bills making a substantial bet on the veteran who played a critical role in the Los Angeles Rams' Super Bowl run following his mid-season trade from the Denver Broncos maintaining the level that helped him claim a second ring.

Few are likely to be questioning his deal in the wake of his performance on Sunday, however, as 371 days on from their win at Arrowhead last season, Miller helped the Bills repeat the feat, recording two sacks in a Buffalo performance that will substantially boost hope they have a formula to defeat Kansas City in the postseason.

On offense, the Bills leaned on one of the most devastating quarterback-wide receiver connections in the NFL. 

Allen targeted Stefon Diggs 13 times in the Bills' 24-20 win, hooking up with the former Minnesota Viking on 10 occasions as Diggs finished with 148 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Though not all of his targets resulted in a completion, Diggs delivered reinforcement, not that it was needed, of his status as one the game's top separation artists. He registered a burn, which is when a receiver wins his matchup on a play where he is targeted, on 12 of those 13 targets. Only the two receivers who posted 100 per cent burn rates, Tyler Boyd (six targets) and Juju Smith-Schuster (five) fared better than Diggs in that sense in Week 6 (min. five targets).

The volume Diggs receives as Allen's top target and the consistency he shows in creating separation makes for a frightening combination for defenses, and he proved too much for the Chiefs on the Bills' go-ahead drive, Allen finding Diggs for two first-down receptions, including one that set Buffalo up at the Kansas City 28-yard line.

With the Chiefs running a two-high safety zone coverage, Diggs displayed his route-running acumen by attacking the leverage of cornerback Jaylen Watson at the top of his downfield route to buy himself critical extra cushion as he settled in the soft spot in the zone before making a superb adjustment at the catch point.

Allen created extra time for himself by subtly shuffling to his left as Carlos Dunlap pushed the pocket, hanging in there and delivering a high-velocity ball that was further in front of Diggs than intended due to the interior rush from Chris Jones reducing his throwing platform. Diggs put his body on the line by laying out for the ball and survived the contact from Watson and safety Juan Thornhill.

Three plays later, after Allen had remarkably hurdled a defender on a 16-yard rush, he found Dawson Knox on a superbly accurate throw to the endzone to put the Bills ahead for good, the tight end deserving of great credit for the manner in which he worked his way back to the ball at the end of his corner route.

That drive came after Miller had forced the Chiefs off the field with a third-down sack of Mahomes, showcasing his still impressive physical flexibility and his motor to work his way around the corner and past right tackle Andrew Wylie to bring down the quarterback.

And Miller played a critical role in the game-clinching interception that followed on the subsequent drive.

Given Mahomes' exploits in last year's playoff matchup, 64 seconds appeared to be plenty of time for him to drive the Chiefs down the field for a game-winning touchdown following Knox's score. 

Miller, though, provided the finishing touch the Bills lacked in the postseason, winning inside with his lateral quickness to get pressure through the B gap, forcing Mahomes into a late throw to Skyy Moore on a crossing route that corner Taron Johnson read all the way, breaking down from his position in the Bills' zone coverage to intercept the pass and end the game.

While the Bills only improved their sack total from the Divisional Round shoot-out by one, Miller's ability to frequently dominate his pass rush matchups at this point in his career had a direct influence on Buffalo knocking off their biggest challenger for the one seed in the AFC and the team most expect them to meet again in the conference title game.

The rapport between Allen and Diggs and the big-play production of Gabe Davis – who followed up his stunning two touchdown-effort against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a 34-yard touchdown reception and leads the league in burn yards per target among receivers with at least 20 targets (16.98) – should ensure the Bills will continue to boast an explosive passing game few in the NFL can rival.

If Miller can supplement that by serving as the closer on a defense that has Pro Bowl talent at every level, the Bills may finally have the recipe to land the knockout blow against the Chiefs when it matters most.

Robert Lewandowski earned the Gerd Muller Trophy by scoring 57 goals for club and country last season and is not about to shirk the challenge of reeling in Erling Haaland in the 2022-23 campaign.

Lewandowski was presented with France Football's award for world football's leading marksman for the second year in a row on Monday, before Karim Benzema landed the Ballon d'Or for the first time.

The honour – previously the Striker of the Year – has been renamed after Muller, the legendary Bayern Munich forward whose 40-goal single-season Bundesliga record Lewandowski broke en route to claiming the trophy.

But if the Barcelona man is going to retain the prize once again in 2023, he is going to have to overcome Manchester City's scoring sensation Haaland.

The City number nine has 20 goals for the club already, also netting once for Norway this season.

Meanwhile, Lewandowski, who was the fourth-best player in the Ballon d'Or rankings, has 14 for Barca and none for Poland to trail by seven.

The 34-year-old was asked about Haaland as he received the Muller Trophy at the Ballon d'Or ceremony, with Didier Drogba telling him of "this kid" at City who is "on fire".

Lewandowski said: "The season is very long, and I know for me it's also a new chapter with Barcelona. Since the first days, I'm feeling very well in this club.

"From the first minutes, I see that with my team-mates we have big potential and I have the opportunity to score a lot of goals. I am sure that all together we are working on this.

"This is football, and we have to be always ready. I know the new generation is also coming, but still I am here."

Reflecting on his achievement, Lewandowski said: "I am very happy and glad and proud not only to win but because also of the name of this trophy. Gerd was a huge inspiration.

"Before the season, I wanted to be closer to him, and I always wanted to break some of his records. It was always a huge challenge.

"It was very emotional to score 41 goals in Bundesliga because I did not think it was possible to break this record. Everything I did was for him."

While Haaland's bid will wait another year, as he scored 42 times for Borussia Dortmund and Norway combined, City did not go away empty-handed.

The Premier League champions beat Champions League finalists Liverpool and Real Madrid to the Club of the Year prize.

Karim Benzema said he had realised a childhood dream by winning the Ballon d'Or for the first time on Monday.

The Real Madrid captain was rewarded for an outstanding 2021-22 campaign when he was named the best player in the world at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.

Benzema scored an astonishing 44 goals in 46 games as Madrid accomplished a LaLiga and Champions League double under Carlo Ancelotti last season.

The France striker, who turns 35 in December, became the oldest Ballon d'Or winner since the great Stanley Matthews way back in 1956.

Benzema was presented with the award by his former Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane, who had been the last French player to win in 1998, on a special evening in his homeland.

He said: "Seeing this award in front of me makes me really proud of the work I have done. It was childhood dream, to have the motivation... I had two role models, Zidane and Ronaldo [the Brazil legend], and always I had this dream in my mind that anything is possible.

"There was a difficult period where I wasn't in the French team, but I never stopped working hard or gave up.

"Really proud of my journey here. It wasn't easy, it was difficult. To be here today for the first time, I am happy, pleased for my work and want to keep going.

"I want to thank all my team-mates at Real Madrid and France and my coach and the Real Madrid president, who is here this evening, and also the support of Jean-Michel Aulas [Lyon president].

"There are a lot of people to thank. It is an individual prize but still a collective one because of everyone who played a role in it."

Bayern Munich's former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane was the runner-up, with Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne third and Robert Lewandowski fourth after an outstanding final season for Bayern Munich before joining Barcelona.

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah was ranked fifth and Paris Saint-Germain's prolific France international Kylian Mbappe only sixth.

Benzema added: "Age is just a number for me. People play until their later years now, and I still have this burning desire.

"It is this drive that has kept me going and never allowed me to let up. It kept this dream alive and was the fire behind me. I just want to make the most if it."

Cristiano Ronaldo finished in 20th place in the Ballon d'Or voting as he headlined an array of stars to fall short of 2022 winner Karim Benzema.

Ronaldo, Benzema's former Real Madrid team-mate, was nominated following a strong season with Manchester United, but he could not come close to adding a sixth Ballon d'Or.

The United forward instead fell to his lowest finish since he last came 20th in 2005, then tied with Liverpool's Champions League winner Jamie Carragher.

Great rival Lionel Messi did not even earn a nomination after his first year at Paris Saint-Germain.

Some of the biggest names of the future came rather closer to troubling Karim Benzema, with Kylian Mbappe sixth and Erling Haaland 10th.

But neither made the final four, where Robert Lewandowski's world-leading 57-goal season for club and country was only enough for fourth place.

Ahead of him, Kevin De Bruyne was in third, with Sadio Mane second, perhaps showing what might have been for the ex-Liverpool forward had the Reds, not Madrid, won the Champions League final.

With Ronaldo 20th and Messi absent, the highest-ranking former Ballon d'Or winner was 2018's Luka Modric, one of Benzema's existing Madrid colleagues.

Modric came ninth, the lowest of four Madrid players in the top 10, as Champions League final winner Vinicius Junior was eighth and Yashin Trophy recipient Thibaut Courtois seventh.

2022 Ballon d'Or:

1. Karim Benzema
2. Sadio Mane
3. Kevin De Bruyne
4. Robert Lewandowski
5. Mohamed Salah
6. Kylian Mbappe
7. Thibaut Courtois
8. Vinicius Junior
9. Luka Modric
10. Erling Haaland
11. Son Heung-min
12. Riyad Mahrez
13. Sebastien Haller
14. Fabinho
14. Rafael Leao
16. Virgil van Dijk
17. Casemiro
17. Dusan Vlahovic
17. Luis Diaz
20. Cristiano Ronaldo
21. Harry Kane
22. Trent Alexander-Arnold
22. Phil Foden
22. Bernardo Silva
25. Joshua Kimmich
25. Mike Maignan
25. Antonio Rudiger
25. Joao Cancelo
25. Christopher Nkunku
25. Darwin Nunez

Siuuuu, it's come to this. The sidekick takes centre stage. The man who carried water for Cristiano Ronaldo gets his champagne moment.

Karim Benzema has gone from jeers to cheers at Real Madrid, with his 13-year odyssey in Spain having been a tale of survival at times.

How many times was he touted for a move to Arsenal during the Arsene Wenger era?

Wenger's consistent message that he did not need Benzema because Arsenal already had plenty of quality forwards has not aged particularly well.

Today, we need to talk about Karim, because it would be hard to think of a worthier Ballon d'Or winner.

His 44 goals in 46 games last season came in a double-winning cause, with Real Madrid carrying off the Champions League and LaLiga trophies. Make it a treble if you're counting the Supercopa, where the final saw Benzema score from the spot against Athletic Bilbao.

He has spent much of the year skippering Los Blancos, given club captain Marcelo was just a fringe figure in Carlo Ancelotti's team before leaving at the end of last season.

You might ask yourself: is this the same Karim Benzema as the player heckled from the Santiago Bernabeu stands five years ago? The player whose five goals in 32 LaLiga games in 2017-18 had some supporters ready to wave him off?

What use was a 30-year-old five-goal striker?

Benzema backed himself then as he backs himself today, and with Zinedine Zidane and Ancelotti similarly convinced, the Frenchman has gradually moved into the spotlight, the last survivor of the BBC combination that rivalled Barcelona's MSN.

Just like Messi-Suarez-Neymar, the Bale-Benzema-Cristiano all-star trio was compelling, but there was often a sense it was two thoroughbreds and a workhorse, the latter constrained by the dutiful role he was asked to fulfil.

Benzema knew better than to be a neigh-sayer, swallowed the sugarcoated reassurances, and proved himself a champion stallion after all.

When Ronaldo trotted off to Juventus in 2018, and as Bale's contributions waned, for the first time Benzema found himself the talisman.

He had been overshadowed all the way back to his first week at the club, when his presentation followed three days on from Ronaldo's own first big welcome at the Bernabeu.

Ronaldo's unveiling came on July 6, 2009, in front of an 80,000 crowd. Some of those returned for Benzema's own bow, but most had other things on.

Benzema was signed for €35million from Lyon amid an extraordinary spree, one that saw Florentino Perez's second term as president begin with not only Ronaldo and Benzema coming in, but Kaka, Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Negredo and Alvaro Arbeloa too.

An arduous first season (nine goals in 33 games) followed for Benzema, but in each of the next six campaigns he managed at least 20. Even in the Jose Mourinho era when he and Gonzalo Higuain would typically be fighting for one place.

Never mind that Ronaldo broke the 50-goal barrier in each of those seasons, Benzema was the magician's most trustworthy assistant.

In 2015, not long after losing his job at Madrid, Ancelotti told AS: "To me, Karim is the best player in the world in his position and not just as a goalscorer. Talking about whether he should score 30 goals is a false debate. He has great qualities; he is a complete player."

Ancelotti's short-lived successor, Rafael Benitez, made similar claims but also questioned Benzema's finishing and began to substitute him regularly, saying: "He is a phenomenon. Let him get mad. Next day, make sure you score twice instead of once."

It was tough love from Benitez, who was replaced in mid-season by Zidane. Benzema finished the season with 28 goals in 36 games across all competitions, scoring at a rate of one every 92.75 minutes.

In 2016-17, as the goals began to dry up, Zidane kept faith.

A poll conducted by sports daily AS showed that 88 per cent of Madrid fans preferred Benzema to start games as a substitute, but Zidane said: "We're not concerned, he's having a great season.

"We know what Karim can offer the side but the fans always want more from their players and that's something we must accept. He has the right character, he can accept the fans' point of view. He won't hide and he will always have my support."

In April 2018, Benzema spoke out in that great football bible, Vanity Fair, as he struggled to put the ball in the back of the net. All the while, Zidane had his back, and crucially another Champions League title was on the way that season.

"What I don't like is when people attack me when I play well, even if I don't score," Benzema said. "I play for the people who value what I do on the pitch.

"Those that come to the stadium to whistle, let them whistle. I'm not going to change their opinion."

In that season's LaLiga campaign, Benzema's five goals put him in a tie for fifth among the team's top scorers, alongside Casemiro and Toni Kroos. Ahead of him were Ronaldo (26 goals in 27 games), Bale (16 goals), Isco (7) and Marco Asensio (6).

Benzema was way behind his expected goals total of 13.22, which reflects the quality of his chances and likelihood of scoring.

When Ronaldo left, something clicked. In LaLiga alone, Benzema had not had consecutive 20-goal seasons while Ronaldo was at Madrid, but four followed in succession: 21, 21, 23, and last season's 27-goal league haul.

He was thriving not merely on responsibility, for that had always been there, but on prominence. Previously a glorified gofer, he has become the go-to man.

And now, with Ronaldo and Bale withering in Manchester and Los Angeles respectively, Benzema is flowering as his 35th birthday approaches.

He is club captain, and although Zidane has departed, it would have heartened Benzema to see Ancelotti recalled to Madrid last year, his old advocate returning.

By now five times a Champions League winner and four times a LaLiga champion, the individual accolades have been flowing for Benzema since Ronaldo headed over the horizon.

He was UEFA men's player of the year and Champions League player of the season for 2021-22, having finished as top scorer in Madrid's glory run. He took the Pichichi prize as LaLiga's leading goal-getter last term, too.

Despite intense lobbying from Madridistas, Benzema finished just fourth in Ballon d'Or voting last year, as Lionel Messi took the award for a seventh time.

There was ample reason for Benzema to be a strong contender in 2021, but his case has become utterly compelling since. In a sense this is a lifetime achievement award and a single-season accolade rolled up into one.

Everything has led to this moment. The wait has been overwhelmingly worth it.

Perhaps there's something in the notion of a lucky Shamrock. Thirteen years on from making his Real Madrid debut in a friendly against Shamrock Rovers, Karim Benzema is the world player of the year, a richly deserving winner of the Ballon d'Or.

It was Cristiano Ronaldo who topped the bill at a jam-packed Tallaght Stadium in July 2009, having joined Madrid from Manchester United, but substitute Benzema was the matchwinner that night, a late goal delivering a 1-0 victory for Los Blancos.

He kept winning, and winning some more, even when others took the spotlight, but the winning has been almost unrelenting. And that has been the theme of his career.

Benzema had won four Ligue 1 titles with Lyon before, at the age of just 21, he earned himself a move to Madrid, where he has won five Champions League titles, four LaLiga crowns, four FIFA Club World Cups, four European Super Cups, four Spanish Supercopas, and two Copa del Rey winner's medals.

Now 34-year-old Benzema is harvesting the personal acclaim, having long played the patient consort to the garlanded Ronaldo and, even, Gareth Bale.

As he ascends to this particular throne, Stats Perform has looked at how Benzema reached such a high point, and what the Ballon d'Or result means in wider terms.

Brilliant Benz merks his rivals

This time it had to be him. The Karim of the crop. Last year, it was hard to distinguish what was more embarrassing: the constant campaigning for Benzema to take the Ballon d'Or by Real Madrid luminaries past and present, or the fact Lionel Messi took the prize again, ahead of Robert Lewandowski.

Messi's seventh Ballon d'Or felt like a long-service award. Benzema's triumph is both that, and a reflection of the greatest season of his career.

The Ballon d'Or rules shifted this year, with the time span set from August 1, 2021, to July 31, 2022, rather than the calendar year.

In that time, Benzema, more often than not as captain, hit 44 goals in 46 games, with his shot conversion rate at a career high of 24.18 per cent.

He scored 27 of those goals in 32 LaLiga games to earn his first Pichichi – the award that goes to the league's leading scorer – and in doing so led Madrid to the title.

Messi won the Pichichi eight times, while Ronaldo took it on three occasions, with Luis Suarez (2015-16) the only other player to lay his hands on the trophy in the seasons from 2009-10 to 2020-21.

Benzema's league goals came at a rate of one every 96.15 minutes, which he has bettered only once in Spain (2015-16: 24 goals in 27 games, one goal every 83.04 minutes). Significantly, he was a provider in the league too, weighing in with a career-best 12 assists.

His 15 Champions League goals in Madrid's glorious campaign came from 12 games, at one goal every 73.73 minutes. He vastly surpassed his expected goals tally of 8.2, the metric that reflects the quality of a player's chances and likelihood of scoring.

He has made a career of exceeding expectations. When he made a €35million switch from Lyon all those years ago, not even Benzema could have imagined he would be peaking in his mid-thirties.

Benzema also drew level with Raul's haul of 323 goals for Madrid last season, going joint-second on the club's all-time list, behind only Ronaldo (450).

Second place has since become Benzema's outright, with the goals still coming. He probably won't catch Ronaldo, but he might not be far behind.

No longer a young man's game?

With Benzema landing the award just two months before he turns 35, it is another example of the younger generation not yet doing enough to challenge the old guard.

The last player aged under 30 to win the Ballon d'Or was Messi, who took the 2015 award.

Kylian Mbappe might have been a reasonable shout this time around, if Paris Saint-Germain had not perished against Madrid and Benzema in last season's Champions League, but the other serious challengers were on the top side of 30: the likes of Lewandowski, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

Next year is likely to be a different story, with Mbappe and Manchester City's Erling Haaland surely pushing for the trophy. The World Cup could also be impactful on the 2022-23 vote, and Qatar 2022 might yet bring Benzema more glory with France.

End of an era as the GOATs go out to pasture

This year's 1-2-3 was conspicuously lacking in GOATs. Neither Messi nor Ronaldo made the podium, which is the first time that has occurred in Ballon d'Or voting since the 2006 awards.

In fact, there have been 11 occasions when both have been in the top three, such has been their preeminence.

Messi has had 13 podium finishes and seven wins, just edging Ronaldo's 12 podiums and five awards.

Four of Ronaldo's awards came while a team-mate of Benzema at Madrid. While the Portugal great made the shortlist this time around, finishing 20th, Messi did not, and it might be a stretch to expect either man to threaten a top-three result again.