What was not seen from the Ballon d'Or: Florentino's kiss to Zidane, the explanation of Benzema's suit, Mbappé and... "Is Cristiano coming?"

• Ballon d'Or Karim Benzema, the dream of the boy 'Coco' and the hands of Florentino and Zidane

From the terrace of

one could see the top

, still under construction three years after the fire;

also the

, the bridge over the

that links the

with the 4th;

and looking down, the thousands of people who had gathered in the heart of the French capital to pay homage to the "

" appeared like ants:

.

The Gallic city drinks more and more from its African ancestry and its young people filled the block that surrounds the entrance of the Châtelet to celebrate one of its great references.

Karim, like many of them, is

, and his rise to the skies of football, as the

footballer also insisted , is a small victory for all of them.

the guest hotel

The day of Benzema's coronation began at the

, next to the Palais de la Ópera and two kilometers from the Châtelet.

It was the place chosen by

to welcome all the guests, who began to arrive after lunchtime.

One of the early risers was

, who a few hours earlier had been at the

watching the classic from his private box.

It was four in the afternoon and it was already rumored that the Frenchman, the last Ballon d'Or winner before Benzema, was going to be in charge of handing over the trophy to his "little brother".

At the same time, another current handled the possibility that it was

whoever gave the trophy to his former teammate: "Is it true that he is going to come?" asked the fans outside the hotel.

As of five in the afternoon the main protagonists landed.

arrived in a private car to see his fifth footballer bathed in gold, although it can be assumed that this was the most special.

For no one else has she gone to the door of his house.

A few minutes after the president arrived, the Real Madrid delegation, led by

and with Benzema and

as winners.

The striker arrived unaccompanied, although his parents, his son Ibrahim and his partner

joined him at the gala .

The Belgian got out of the minibus with his fiancée

.

"Where is Laporta?"

expedition

was the last to appear in the Intercontinental and an absence sowed all the conspiracies: "

?".

The presence of the Barca club board in the city where

lives fueled all the wishes of the culé crowd.

Meanwhile,

, who did not leave the box of the dress with which she won her second Ballon d'Or, entered the reception together with

and several teammates from the women's team.

The red carpet was a catwalk of reunions, with the presence of Florentino and

as the main media focus beyond the gala.

Would

or approach?

In the midst of the Parisian deluge, the Châtelet square began to receive guests: influencers, club managers like Jean-Michel Aulas (president of Olympique Lyon), singers like Andrea Bocelli,

, footballers... There

, a Dortmund striker who is undergoing cancer treatment, and

, an icon alongside Benzema of the African community in Paris ,

stood out .

For him it was the first big ovation of the day.

At 19:50 the morbidity began.

Zinedine Zidane appeared only among the general ecstasy.

The coach, also of Algerian descent like Benzema and the last Frenchman to win the award, is the great reference of his generation: "

", he said.

The Frenchman was followed by

who in the absence of their wives decided to start the red carpet arm in arm, laughing.

Behind them, Florentino Pérez, completing four galactic minutes.

Only

was missing .

Francois MoriAP

Benzema's tribute to Tupac

Instantly: Karim Benzema.

tied around his neck and gold glasses.

An appearance chosen to honor his idol, the American rapper

, who wore the same outfit at the 1996 American Music Awards on January 29, eight months before he was murdered.

Benzema, nervous, relaxed and burst out laughing when he saw the ease his son

had in front of the cameras, which had to stop taking pictures of him when

appeared at the bottom of the red carpet .

The French striker arrived just behind the legends, the president and the captain of Madrid.

He was, along with Nuno Mendes, the only PSG representative at the gala.

Mohammed BadraEFE

Al-Khelaifi, Messi, Ramos, Ceferin...

Neither

, who was there last year;

nor

, the last winner and out of the list of nominees this year;

neither Neymar nor

("you deserve it, brother", he wrote on his social networks) made an appearance.

That of the president of PSG, in the middle of the war with Florentino, was the most significant casualty, although the president of UEFA,

, also in the trenches since the creation of the

, did not attend either .

FRANK FIFEAFP

While

roared the engine of the

before getting out, Ballon d'Or in hand, from the car to enter the theater, reunions were piling up inside.

Figo, Ronaldo and Zidane were joking with each other when Florentino approached, joined the conversation and ended up

one who had been his coach for six seasons on the cheek.

He was the symbol of the personal union that exists, and will exist, between president and legend.

'Zizou' will always have the doors of the club open.

View this post on Instagram

The end of the red carpet coincided with the flashes for the Barcelona entourage, this time with

in command.

The culé president, smiling 24 hours after the defeat in the classic, boasted about Alexia and the winners of the men's squad, although in the middle of the gala

... The stress of the presidency, it is assumed.

France Football seated Benzema in the front row, with Mané to his left and

to his right, something that heralded the final podium.

The Frenchman was the first of the finalists to sit in his place, nervously waiting for the others and receiving one by one the advance congratulations of the attendees.

Among them,

, who shook his hand with laughter.

The president of Barça, who sat in the second row, behind the Barça players, tried to

before he signed for Madrid.

The

, defending the freedom of his country, moved the audience and Zidane's exit to the stage, confirming the rumors and definitively denying that Cristiano was going to present the award, provoked a new ovation from the stands.

The Portuguese, meanwhile, saw it (supposedly) from Manchester.

Florentino's video... and the 'Club of the Year'

In the audience, Florentino, in the second row like Laporta, took the opportunity to

how Zizou presented the award to Benzema.

An image that defines what the two French represent for the president of Madrid.

A gala that honored the history of the white team under the faces of its legends, and that resulted in some uncomfortable laughter when France Football decided to choose

ahead of Liverpool and Madrid.

The madridista expedition could not believe it and they clamored in private against the award, but Benzema's day was too important to make it public.

While Benzema, sweating, spoke at a press conference, the Châtelet's windows could be heard shouting from people: "

", they sang.

Leaving the theater and before entering the minibus that took him back to the airport, the Frenchman offered the Ballon d'Or to the hundreds of citizens who, around midnight, were still

.

Surrounded by his group of friends, some of them forced to act almost as bodyguards, Karim felt like a bit

in the capital of the country for which he has suffered so much in the last decade.

"It has been the most difficult", he had been moved in the press room.

Descending the stairs to the theater hall he could hardly walk.

The ball, yes, always in his hand.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• Mbappe

• Leo Messi

• Cristiano Ronaldo

• Paris

• Neymar

• UEFA

• Thibaut Courtois

• real Madrid

• Zinedine Zidane

• Karim Benzema

• pedri

• Joan Laporta