{"id":1099970,"date":"2022-05-26T10:49:30","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T10:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/05\/26\/champions-league-final-could-decide-ballon-dor\/"},"modified":"2022-05-26T10:49:30","modified_gmt":"2022-05-26T10:49:30","slug":"champions-league-final-could-decide-ballon-dor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/05\/26\/champions-league-final-could-decide-ballon-dor\/","title":{"rendered":"Champions League final ‘could decide Ballon d’or’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sadio Mane’s Liverpool and Karim Benzema’s Real Madrid meet in this season’s Champions League final
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The outcome of the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid could decide who wins this year\u2019s Ballon d\u2019Or, according to former Reds defender Djimi Traore.<\/p>\n

The man who was left-back when the Anfield club\u00a0won the trophy in 2005\u00a0thinks Senegal forward Sadio Mane is in contention for the award \u2013 but says he faces stiff competition from Real and France striker Karim Benzema.<\/p>\n

Benzema, 34, has struck 15 goals in Europe this season to help the Spanish giants set up a meeting with Liverpool in Paris on Saturday (19:00 GMT).<\/p>\n

Mane was instrumental in Senegal\u2019s first Africa Cup of Nations triumph in February and helped the Teranga Lions qualify for the 2022 World Cup, with the 30-year-old having also won two domestic cups with his club this season.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think Karim Benzema is in the form in his life \u2013 he\u2019s doing fantastically,\u201d Traore told BBC Sport Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the winner of the Champions League, the individual reward would be like winning the Ballon d\u2019Or. Right now it looks like it\u2019ll be between Benzema and Mane.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nominees for this year\u2019s Ballon d\u2019Or will be revealed on 12 August, with the winner announced at a ceremony in Paris in 17 October.<\/p>\n

Organisers France Football have decided the prize will now be\u00a0judged on performances over a season\u00a0rather than over a calendar year, which was the previous format.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s showdown between Real Madrid and Liverpool in Paris is a rematch of the 2018 Champions League final, when the Spaniards ran out 3-1 winners to clinch their 13th European crown.<\/p>\n

Jurgen Klopp\u2019s Reds returned 12 months later to win the title for the sixth time and Traore thinks his old side are slight favourites this year, despite finishing second in the Premier League.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a fantastic manager,\u201d the 42-year-old former Mali international said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of their players are the best in the positions they play. When you see Mo Salah, he\u2019s a top-class player, the best African player. You see Mane as well and after that you have (Virgil) Van Dijk and a couple of other players.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just got (Luis) Diaz \u2013 he was a great addition for the team. And they look confident.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it\u2019s one of the first times Liverpool look like favourites in the final and that\u2019s something maybe they\u2019re not used to. They did it last time against Tottenham [in 2019], so why not do it again?\u201d<\/p>\n

Istanbul comeback in 2005 \u2018sticks\u2019 with Traore<\/h4>\n
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Djimi Traore (right) helped Liverpool beat AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Traore was part of the Liverpool side which recovered from 3-0 down at half-time to draw 3-3 and beat AC Milan on penalties in the Champions League final 17 years ago.<\/p>\n

The defender says that comeback,\u00a0dubbed \u2018The Miracle of Istanbul\u2019,\u00a0remains a fond memory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I look back on that experience, it was one of the best moments in my life,\u201d Traore said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went through different emotions and that\u2019s why it still sticks with me,<\/p>\n

\u201cIn any sport, any coach would want to talk about that story. Because everything is possible if you believe and work hard, and if you don\u2019t give up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I think is the beauty of that final \u2013 and the beauty of football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Traore now works for the Right to Dream Academy, an organisation affiliated to Danish top-flight club FC Nordsjaelland with football academies in Denmark, Ghana and Egypt \u2013 and with plans to open another in America.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to get the best players from each academy, and play games together around the world,\u201d Traore, who is head coach of the international academy, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to make sure they grow as a player, but as a person as well, and prepare them to be ready to go into the professional world. It can be football and education, and that\u2019s what I love about it \u2013 it is authentic.\u201d<\/p>\n

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