While Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring in the 39th minute, Benzema scored a hat-trick in less than twenty minutes after returning from the locker room: he equalized in the 61st, then scored two goals in quick succession, in the 76th and 78th. .
The French center-forward, who arrived in Madrid in 2009, therefore joins the podium of the top scorers in the history of the White House behind Raul (323 goals), whom he should not join before next season, and the unattainable Cristiano Ronaldo (451 goals), now at Manchester United.
The native of Bron, in the suburbs of Lyon, has long been criticized for his lack of goals at Real Madrid but he has now won the hearts of "Madridist" supporters.
The first goal of "KB9" at Real dates back to September 29, 2009, during the 3rd day of La Liga against Jerez, when the Frenchman had just landed in the Spanish capital from Olympique Lyonnais.
This season, Benzema has 30 goals and 12 assists in 33 appearances in all competitions, well ahead of Vinicius' 13 goals and Marco Asensio's 8, Real's other two top scorers this season behind him.
The current top scorer and assistor in La Liga (20 goals and 10 assists in 24 matches) is in the running to win his first "Pichichi" trophy in Spain, after the one won in 2007-2008 in Ligue 1 with Lyon (with twenty goals in L1 and 31 in all competitions that season).
His best total in La Liga dates from the 2015-2016 season, during which the Frenchman reached the 24-goal mark.
© 2022 AFP