He was decisive again. He is almost unstoppable this season. Karim Benzema, captain and absolute leader of Real Madrid made his talent speak again, Tuesday, April 26, by offering a double against Manchester City in the semi-final first leg of the Champions League. Despite the defeat (4-3), the people of Madrid can breathe because the addition could have been more salty against the breathtaking but clumsy Cityzens. On the Spanish side, efficiency spoke again with, as a figurehead, the French international.
If Real were dominated, the only star that shone again was Karim Benzema. “It was a Champions League game, a great semi-final against a great Manchester City team”first slipped the former Lyonnais at the microphone of Canal + after 90 minutes of rare intensity. “There was a big start to the match for them (2-0 after ten minutes, editor’s note) but we didn’t give up. Afterwards, we started to play and we came back to the score. There are times when you have to know how to hunker down, especially against City who are a big team. We continued our work and in the end we managed to score three goals.”
And among these three goals, two are to the credit of striker Merengue, who brings his counter to fourteen in the competition, and at the same time exceeds Robert Lewandowski (13). “Frankly, I’m mainly thinking about winning La Liga and trying to win the Champions League, what comes next we’ll see”, replied Benzema soberly, when asked to discuss a possible Ballon d’Or. And if we had to make a choice between an individual and a collective trophy? “Liga and Champions League, direct!”he decided.
#UCL pic.twitter.com/hprAbJiOFg
— Real Madrid CF (@realmadrid) April 26, 2022
Because the aspect that also characterizes the Habs is the collective. And in the Mancunian evening, he once again turned into a leader, haranguing his people several times during the match. “I try to put a little more confidence in them. In this kind of match, in the semi-finals of the Champions League, everyone is at the same level and after that it is played on the mind”, analyzed the experienced Frenchman with nine goals in his last four Champions League games. And Real are still counting on him to reach a new Champions League final, it would be the fifth for Benzema.