Karim Benzema of Real Madrid has been awarded the UEFA Champions League Player of the Season for 2012/13.
The Real Madrid striker won the accolade after leading the league in scoring with 15 goals and leading his club to victory in a series of thrilling comebacks.
The French striker was a talismanic figure for Real Madrid, leading them to a record 14th European championship, his fifth since joining from Lyon in 2009.
Benzema not only scored double digits in the Champions League for the first time in his career, but his final total of 15 also put him in first place in the competition’s scoring rankings.
Surprisingly, eleven of those goals came in the knockout stages, starting with a game-changing late hat-trick against Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16.
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He then added another triple away to Chelsea before burying the extra-time winner to knock out the holders in Spain.
He scored three goals in the semi-finals against Manchester City, including the extra-time penalty that concluded a stunning comeback.
Benzema, who did not add to his tally in the final, is now tied for third all-time in European Cup goals with Robert Lewandowski.
