BUENOS AIRES: Real Madrid’s France star Karim Benezema deserves to win the Ballon d’Or, according to seven-time laureate Lionel Messi. Benzema was crucial in Madrid’s Champions League victory this season, culminating with a 1-0 win over Liverpool in Paris on Saturday. Although he did not score in the final, Benzema’s back-to-back hat-tricks in the knock-out rounds, starting with a 17-minute treble against Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain to overturn a 2-0 aggregate deficit, were crucial to generating the momentum that swept the Spaniards to the title. “There’s no doubt, it’s very clear that Benzema has had a spectacular year and has ended it by winning the Champions League,” Messi told Argentine channel TyC Sports. “He was crucial from the last-16 onwards in every match and I think there’s no doubt” that Benzema deserves to win the Ballon d’Or. Messi was speaking a couple of days ahead of a friendly with Italy at Wembley stadium between two continental champions. The match between the South American Copa America holders and the European champions, where many Argentines trace their roots, is known as the “Finalissima”.