Karim Benzema back on song for Real Madrid ahead of El Clásico & Champions League tests
The French forward scored a hat-trick in six and half minutes in LaLiga on Sunday
Karim Benzema is back on song and the timing is good for Real Madrid. The French forward has missed 13 matches through injury this season and has been restricted by muscle fatigue and niggling problems in many more. When he struggles, so do Los Blancos. But when he is on form, they are too.
Had he been fit and firing for the entire season, Madrid might be challenging Barcelona for LaLiga. As it is, the title is out of reach, with Barça 12 points clear at the top with 11 rounds remaining. But Real still have hopes of claiming some silverware in 2022-23 – and those hopes could rest on Benzema.
Against Real Valladolid in LaLiga on Sunday, the striker scored a hat-trick in six and a half minutes. It was the fastest treble netted by a Real Madrid player since Fernando Hierro against Espanyol in 1992. And all three goals were excellent.
The first was a header at the back post which was unusual because he let the ball bounce before making contact low with Vinícius Júnior’s cross. The second saw him sidestep a couple of defenders and unleash a fierce drive into the corner from the edge of the box. And the third was a clever, improvised bicycle kick with his back to goal. All while fasting for Ramadan, too. Impressive.
Benzema was replaced in the 65th minute by Eden Hazard in the 6-0 win and went off to warm applause from the crowd at the Santiago Bernabéu for a well-deserved rest ahead of more important games in the days and weeks ahead.
Up first is a Clásico clash against Barça at Camp Nou on Wednesday night. Madrid trail 1-0 from the first leg of the teams’ Copa del Rey semi-final and with Xavi’s side ahead in LaLiga, having already won the Supercopa and claimed victory in the last three meetings with Real, this one assumes even greater importance than usual for Los Blancos.
And after that comes the Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea over two games later this month, with Madrid looking to retain the trophy they won last May and save their season by bringing home the biggest prize of all. One they often believe is theirs. Benzema, as always, will be key.
Sunday’s hat-trick took him past 20 goals for the 11th time in a season – out of 14 in total – as a Madrid player. He now has 345 goals overall for Real and is behind only his former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo in the club’s list of all-time scorers.
The Portuguese hit 450 for Los Blancos and is unlikely to be caught, but for nine seasons Benzema played second fiddle to his team-mate in a sacrificial, selfless role. Ronaldo also took the penalties and mostly converted them – 79 in total.
Benzema rarely took spot-kicks in that time and scored just three in those nine seasons. Had he been the first-choice taker, he and not Cristiano would be Madrid’s all-time top scorer by now.
Instead, he is second, but still the talisman for Los Blancos in a special role. As a scorer and also a creator. Or as he once described himself: a number 9 with the soul of a number 10. “Benzema is Benzema again,” Spanish sports paper Marca said on Sunday. Ahead of El Clásico, plus the business end of the Champions League, that’s very good news for Real Madrid.