On Tuesday night, Real Madrid were expected to trounce Liverpool. The Premier League side fielded a weakened team for their trip to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, but, to their credit, held their free-scoring opponents to just 1-0. The winner came courtesy of Frenchman Karim Benzema midway through the first half and while Los Blancos dominated - the hosts had 27 shots to Liverpool’s 4 - Carlo Ancelotti’s side failed to build on Benzema’s strike.
It was the 26-year-old’s 5th goal of the competition this season in what has been an impressive start to the campaign for the Madrid striker. In the Champions League, only Luiz Adriano (9) has netted more goals than Benzema while only 8 players have a better WhoScored rating (8.31), with Benzema's the best of all Madrid's stars. In La Liga, only the mercurial Cristiano Ronaldo (8.98) and summer arrival James Rodríguez (7.87) have a better rating than Benzema (7.82) for Los Blancos.
Despite reports suggesting he was on the verge of a move away from the Spanish capital over the summer, Benzema has let his football do the talking and Madrid are profitting as a result. Arsenal were supposedly interested as the European champions kept tabs on the availability of Falcao. The Colombian eventually joined Manchester United, while Madrid signed Javier Hernández on loan. Ultimately, Benzema remained at the Bernabeu and has since quashed any doubts over whether he deserves a starting spot in Carlo Ancelotti's side.
Much of the focus in the Madrid attack has been on Ronaldo this season and rightly so. The Portuguese has scored more league goals (17) than 73 of the 98 teams in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season, so the praise is certainly not without merit. However, his performances have taken the limelight off Benzema, though the France international is not letting his teammate’s form affect his impact.
Instead, Benzema’s displays have helped his striking teammate reach the pinnacle of his footballing abilities. Ronaldo’s underwhelming World Cup and subsequent injury saw questions asked over whether the Portugal international would win the 2014 Ballon d’Or award. Ronaldo picked up the 2013 edition and his displays for Madrid this term have left admirers fawning over WhoScored’s highest rated player in Europe (8.97), and he has rightly become the favourite for the 2014 award.
Benzema, though, deserves ample credit for helping bring out the best in Ronaldo. His undervalued movement in the final third drags defenders out of position which can then be exploited by the Portugal international. The pairing have struck up an impressive understanding with one another, to the extent that they have a combined total of 30 league goals and assists this campaign.
His ability to pull to the wings and hold up play opens up space for teammates coming from deep. At present those players are Rodríguez and Isco who have been deployed on the flanks in Ancelotti’s recently utilised 4-4-2 formation in the absence of world record signing Gareth Bale, but neither are natural wide players. However, with Benzema often pulling wide, Rodríguez and Isco are able to cut inside and exploit the space the France international leaves in the final third, while this also allows Ronaldo to operate in a more central position to devestating effect.
Having previously used a 4-3-3 formation to accommodate Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale - coining the term ‘BBC’ - Madrid’s performances in a 4-4-2 formation may convince Ancelotti to persist with this system. Benzema has worked hard to assert himself at the Bernabeu and is now considered undroppable after seeming somewhat expendable over the summer.
Since the turn of the year, Benzema has been one of Madrid’s stand out performers, despite the acquisitions of Rodríguez, Hernández and Toni Kroos and the form of Ronaldo. Only Lionel Messi (41), Ronaldo (38) and Aritz Aduriz (24) have directly contributed to more Liga goals in 2014 than Benzema (23) and he has gone from being a potential make-weight in deals to integral member of the team at the Bernabeu.
As Madrid strive to become the first team to defend the Champions League and lift a 33rd Liga title, Benzema’s all-round striking ability will become all the more important as the campaign wears on. Having arguably underwhelmed in the early stages of his Madrid career, Benzema is realising his potential in the Spanish capital. Capable of scoring goals as well as creating them, the 26-year-old is evidently the ideal frontman in this seemingly unstoppable Madrid team.
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