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Written by Martin Graham | May 14, 2022
Real Madrid star Karim Benzema has officially become the club’s second-best scorer behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
Benzema and Ronaldo signed for the club in the 2009 window to return with much promise and fanfare. Unveiling them was one of the most luxurious things the club has done in any signing and both have proven to be amazing investments.
Ronaldo, who departed in 2018, went on to win four Champions League titles in his nine years with the club while scoring 450 goals to become the club’s all-time leading scorer.
Benzema was a little late, having taken the back seat of Ronaldo while the Portuguese superstar was the club’s president. However, since his exit, he has risen to the occasion and is one of the main factors responsible for the club’s successes in the past few seasons.
The 34-year-old striker has now linked up with other club legend Raul Gonzalez to become the club’s second-highest goalscorer with 323 goals.
Benzema scored the second goal of a 6-0 win over struggling Levante in La Liga on Thursday, in a match that was celebratory as he had already been confirmed as a La Liga title winner.
Los Blancos rebounded after losing the Madrid derby to Atletico Madrid last week to send Levante into the center of the show in front of the jubilant Santiago Bernabeu crowd.
Vinicius Jr has grabbed the headlines with a hat-trick, but it’s Benzema who made history. It was his 27th La Liga goal this season – his biggest ever in the league – and 43rd place in 43 games for the club in all competitions.
His goals have pulled the team out of the quagmire and secured him in La Liga and the Supercopa de Espana this season.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti stated earlier this week that Benzema became the captain after Ronaldo’s departure, which is why we’re seeing this version of the Frenchman.
“I find it difficult to call Benzema only as a central striker because he is a great player who plays from the front. He is not only a goalscorer but he helps his teammates and is involved in building the play.
“He’s a complete player and for us, he’s really important because he scores so many goals. He’s a big, better player and I think he’s the best now.
I think Karim became captain of the team when Ronaldo left because at that time he had more responsibility. Ronaldo was a player who scored around 50 goals per season and without him Real Madrid had more difficulties scoring goals.
Karim took on this responsibility and became even more important to the team. But this squad has a lot of leaders.”
He will be looking to top a few goals against Raul in the coming weeks as they look to finish LaLiga with a respectable score of points and win their 14th Champions League title against Liverpool on May 28.
