On the evening of June 1, at a ceremony organized by the Spanish daily Marca, a little girl bursts into tears on stage while asking Benzema about his future. The Frenchman takes her in his arms and consoles her.

This crying girl is the entire "Madridism" summed up in one image. The proof that the kid from Bron, near Lyon, has become the soul of the club where he arrived in 2009, at 21 years old.

His departure, announced Sunday, leaves an orphaned people: the "Nueve" ("Nine", like his number) symbolized the glory of Madrid in the late 2010s and early 2020s, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo first, but also the unstoppable Tony Kroos, Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos and Marcelo.

Karim Benzema leaves Real as the player who has won the most trophies (25, tied with Marcelo), the second top scorer in the history of the club with 353 goals, behind CR7 and ahead of the legend Raul.

Better with time

"Karim Benzema is improving every day like good wine. He is more and more a leader in the team, in the group. He is an example for everyone," coach Carlo Ancelotti said of him last year.

Better with time: the formula suits perfectly this complete striker, with the licked technique, the altruistic style of play and the irreproachable attitude on the pitch.

Because Benzema has gradually broken all barriers to climb the ladder of his neighborhood of Bron, a suburb of Lyon, to the top of the football planet.

Karim Benzema after scoring for Real Madrid during the Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea FC at Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium on April 12, 2023 © JAVIER SORIANO / AFP/Archives

It was necessary, for this, to get rid of the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo, of which he was the discreet lieutenant for nearly ten years, until 2018, before taking the light in turn.

Getting rid of, above all, an image of hothead like his friends of the 1987 generation (Samir Nasri, Hatem Ben Arfa ...), stuck between his collection of cars, his luxury clothes and his associates.

It is also his loyalty to his childhood friend Karim Zenati that earned him his troubles in the case of the "sextape" of Mathieu Valbuena, where he decided in June 2022 to give up appealing, endorsing his one-year suspended prison sentence for "complicity in attempted blackmail".

History to definitively turn this extra-sporting page that marked more than five years of his career, five years of banishment of the Blues.

The episode has probably forever tarnished his history with the France team, which he still believed he could take to the world title in December 2022 before a final injury shattered his World Cup dreams.

But in Spain, Benzema has remained fulfilled, both on the pitch and with the public, to whom he sends smiles, winks and thumbs up. In recent years, he has also cultivated his image as a tidy family man.

"Ballon d'Or du peuple"

This season again, despite repeated physical glitches, the merengue captain finished top scorer of his team with 30 goals in 42 matches before the 38th matchday on Sunday. At 35.

Honorable statistics, but paltry compared to his fantastic 2021-2022 season, which earned him the supreme individual award, the Ballon d'Or.

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema receives the 2022 Ballon d'Or from Zinedine Zidane in Paris on October 17, 2022 © FRANCK FIFE / AFP/Archives

With 44 goals in 46 club appearances in 2021-2022, "KB9" wore the "White House" during the epic European campaign that led Real to their 14th Champions League crown.

That season, the ex-Blue (97 caps, 37 goals) also carried the France team to the title in the League of Nations, its only trophy in Blue.

In fifteen years in Madrid, Benzema has grown. Arrived at 21 years old against 35 million euros at the same time as CR7 and Kaka, the Nueve was criticized, replacement, sometimes without confidence.

But he knew how to bide his time and make his nest, maturing with the tutelary figure of Zinedine Zidane, whom he often described as "big brother", the same man who will give him, in Paris, his famous "Ballon d'Or du peuple".

"I say +Ballon d'Or of the people+ because they participated," Benzema said on the night of the ceremony. "They pushed me every time despite the obstacles, at all times."

© 2023 AFP