There was a time when Karim Benzema was bullied by Real Madrid fans for not harnessing all his talent, not scoring enough goals, not rising to the challenge.
Even though he has silenced most of his critics in recent years, no one can doubt the France striker again after he has made his name in the club’s long Champions League lore.
Benzema scored a hat-trick in just 18 minutes on Wednesday night to knock out Paris Saint-Germain and put the Spanish club in contention for both the European Cup and the Spanish league title.
For a game and a half, Kylian Mbappe was leading PSG to a commanding victory with a stunning two-goal performance that shows why both rivals want football’s brightest star in their squad next season.
It was not until Benzema roared back in the second-half rally to give Madrid a 3-2 aggregate victory.
“We lost the first leg and today we went 1-0 down at halftime, but the power of the fans kept us going,” Benzema said.
PSG were left with the only French league to play in after another European failure, despite efforts by its Qatari owners to assemble the most talented attack in the world after Lionel Messi was replaced by Mbappé and Neymar last summer. was added to play with. The defeat came five years after PSG suffered a shocking second-leg collapse at the Camp Nou when Barcelona made history with a 6-1 victory.
Under Benzema, Madrid have now gained some great momentum as they seek a double of a potential 14th European Cup and bid to reclaim the Spanish league title.
Next up for Madrid is Mallorca, who will welcome the Spanish leaders into the domestic competition on Monday.
In the three and a half seasons since Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure, Benzema has established himself as Madrid’s undisputed leader, thanks to his goals and his character on the field. Not even a guilty verdict in November in a sex-tape blackmail conspiracy against a former France teammate didn’t shake his brilliant form.
While Messi, who adores Benzema, is 34, with his best years behind him, Benzema has only gotten better.
Benzema has scored 30 times in 33 matches for Madrid this season. He leads the Spanish league with 20 goals, seven more than his nearest chasers.
And his treble against PSG made him the oldest player to score a Champions League hat-trick at 34 years, 80 days. This put him third on the club’s all-time scoring list, ahead of Alfredo Di Stefano, with 309 goals.
Benzema helped Madrid win the league title two seasons ago. With defending champions Atlético Madrid and Barcelona 15 points behind, only Sevilla remained within realistic striking distance to prevent Madrid from adding a record 34 titles.
Sevilla will visit Rio Vallecano on Sunday, eight points behind Madrid. Sevilla have squandered many chances to close the gap after drawing all four of their last road game.
Mallorca is ranked 16th and just two points from the relegation zone. The Balearic Islands club, which was promoted for the start of the season, are in their worst run of the campaign after losing four games in a row.
Every game is a final for us, both in La Liga and in the Champions League. Real Madrid is alive,” said Benzema. “When there’s pressure, every guy does his job and we have fans behind us, we can beat anybody.”
Mbappe will now have to decide whether he will stay in Paris or move to the Spanish capital. Some Madrid fans applauded when he was introduced to him ahead of Wednesday’s match, hoping he could become their next superstar.
But it was Benzema who proved that Madrid already have what they need to win the title right now.
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