Karim Benzema won the 2022 Ballon d'Or. He was handed the trophy by none other than Zinedine Zidane - the legend then spoke about her special relationship with the attacker.

During his tenure as Real Madrid coach, Zidane has already crossed paths with Benzema. The former playmaker, who won the Ballon d'Or himself once (1998), was an obvious choice to present Benzema with the trophy on Monday night.

But the 50-year-old revealed that there is so much more that connects him and Benzema, which is why it was a matter of the heart for him to take on this special role.

"I'm almost like a big brother to Karim. That's what we like to call each other: little brother and big brother," Zidane revealed to L'Equipe. "We have more or less the same background: he's from Lyon, I'm from Marseille, but apart from that... We both grew up in one neighborhood and it wasn't easy for us at first."

Zidane explained that they were "simple young people from the suburbs who had a dream of becoming a professional footballer". "We achieved it through hard work. We really have a lot in common, right down to our origins: our families are from nearby villages in Algeria, in the small region of Kabylie, and we've talked about it a number of times."

This article was originally published on 90min.com as Zidane on his relationship with Benzema: 'Little Brother and Big Brother'.