The 2022 Ballon d'Or benefited from two five-star serves from Brazilians Vinicius (5th) and Rodrygo (17th), who each signed a festival on their wing before serving the French goleador in front of the cages, then Benzema sealed his hat-trick on penalty kick (41st), after a foul by Belgian Largie Ramazani on Lucas Vazquez in the box.
A hat-trick that allows him to reach the mark of 236 goals scored in La Liga, and thus surpass the Mexican Hugo Sanchez (234 goals) to join the top 4 of the best scorers in the history of the Spanish championship.
Benzema can still hope to join Athletic Bilbao's historic centre-forward Telmo Zarra (253 goals) before his retirement to join the top 3 of this ranking. But the top two spots, occupied by Lionel Messi (473 goals) and Cristiano Ronaldo (311 goals), seem out of reach.
Real Madrid's Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior (centre) during the La Liga match against Almeria at the Bernabeu stadium on April 29, 2023 © Thomas COEX / AFP
Before the break, Lazaro, forgotten behind Antonio Rüdiger's back, reduced the gap (41st), but Rodrygo, with a dry strike, gave the Merengues a three-point lead back from the dressing room (47th), before Lucas Robertone, who had entered the game four minutes earlier in place of Cesar de la Hoz, brought his own to two goals (61st) by taking advantage of a bad pass from Toni Kroos in his own area.
"Nueve" vs. "Lewy"
Thanks to this full success, Real provisionally returns to eight points of FC Barcelona, who host Betis Sevilla in the evening (21:00) at Camp Nou.
And with that hat-trick, Benzema also swooped down on arch-rival Robert Lewandowski in the fight for the Pichichi trophy as La Liga's top scorer he won last season.
Before the Blaugranas match, the Frenchman (17 league goals) is only one length behind the Pole (18 goals). On the return from the World Cup, "Lewy", who is currently going through a period of unusual drought in front of the cages, had twelve, and the "Nueve" five.
Real Madrid's French striker Karim Benzema during the La Liga match against Almeria at the Bernabeu Stadium on April 29, 2023 © Thomas COEX / AFP
The former Lyonnais could even have scored a quadruple, but the penalty he caused was cancelled out in a second time by the referee after video viewing, for a preliminary hook of the Frenchman on his defender.
This new full match confirms the excellent form of the former French international. In April, Benzema has scored three hat-tricks: in Valladolid on the 2nd, at Camp Nou on the 5th, then at the Bernabéu on April 29th.
In its wake, Real has also found colors. Corrected 4-2 on the field of the promoted Girona (in particular because of a hat-trick of Taty Castellanos) in the absence of Thibaut Courtois and his captain Karim Benzema, the "White House" recovered on its lawn, a week before its final of the Copa del Rey against Osasuna (May 6 in Seville) and ten days before its semi-final first leg of the Champions League against Manchester City (May 9 at the Bernabéu).
Elche for honor
Earlier in the day, La Liga's red lantern Elche stunned Rayo Vallecano 4-0 on home turf, picking up their third win of the season, the first in almost two months (1-0 in Mallorca on March 4).
A victory for the honor, as the illicitan club seems destined for relegation.
Andoni Iraola's players, who had just made a big move by outclassing Barça 2-1 on their turf on Wednesday, had to play a large part of the match at ten after the expulsion of French defender Florian Lejeune in the 27th minute for a tackle with both feet off Pere Milla.
© 2023 AFP