At the age of 35, Real Madrid's top scorer Karim Benzema responded firmly to doubts about his physical condition by scoring a hat-trick twice in the space of four days, one of which was at rivals Barcelona.
At this age, many players are thinking about the post-retirement era, Benzema is still at the top of his footballing art and, as he did in 2022, dreams of another football spring.
At the Camp Nou, in the second leg of the cup semi-final against arch-rivals Barcelona on Wednesday (Real won 4-1 to make up for their 20-11 loss to qualify for the final to meet Osasuna), Benzema, who won the Golden Ball for the best player in the world last year, became the first player in the rich history of the royal club to score at least <> goals in <> seasons, surpassing former star of the Portuguese merengue Cristiano Ronaldo.
Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti praised the French striker, saying: "The work he did during the international break helped him a lot."
"At the peak of his physical condition, thanks to his qualities, he makes the difference. He remains one of the best players in the world. Not just one of the best attackers. He's one of the best players in the world right now."
Fortunately for Real, Benzema reached his scoring peak and physical condition during the knockout stages, after a difficult period during which he was sidelined due to injuries.
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Although the former Lyon striker's contract expires on June 30, he has entered into negotiations with the management of the capital club Madrid to extend for an additional year. According to the Spanish press, it is possible that the 2023-2024 season will be his last at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, where the Madrid club has signed Brazilian striker Indrick, and is still looking for a way to seduce Norwegian giant Erling Haaland after the failure of the transfer of Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe.
Three days after his hat-trick against Valladolid (3-6) in the league and three weeks after his goal against Liverpool in the second leg of the Champions League final, which helped Real reach the quarter-finals to meet Chelsea, Benzema showed without any ambiguity that Madrid must always rely on him.
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Historic achievement
In addition to him in the record books, only Hungarian Ferenc Puskas achieved such a feat on 27 January 1963, scoring a hat-trick at the Blaugrana in a Merengue shirt.
Benzema's performance on Wednesday led Real to a historic victory, as his overwhelming quadruple victory was considered the biggest "White House" during the Clasico match since winning five clean sheets in 1995, and his biggest victory at the Camp Nou since winning 5-1 in 1963.
Benzema's Ramadan 🌙Hattrick Enjoyable
🇫🇷🍿 viewing #Barcelona_Real_Madrid#CopaDelRey | #SSC pic.twitter.com/3P5X5d3kL8
— Saudi Sports Company SSC (@ssc_sports) April 5, 2023
The Spanish newspaper "Marca" saluted Benzema's trilogy, entitled "What a performance", and referred to a hat-trick from "Benzema on big evenings", attaching the news to a picture of the Frenchman celebrating one of his goals.
In turn, wrote the newspaper "AS" Madrid under a picture of the holder of the Ballon d'Or laughing and with eyes closed "3 goals and a half" goal from Benzema, in reference to the decisive ball from the Frenchman to his Brazilian teammate Vinicius Junior, who opened the scoring.
After being praised by the press and fans, his comrades heaped praise on him in the dressing room. After the Clásico, everyone watched video footage showing Nacho giving him the captain's armband, while Vinicius Jr. clapped and jumped with joy topless in the hands of Austrian defender David Alaba as he shouted in Spanish "This is how Real Madrid win!"
Lucas Vazquez praised his team-mate Benzema after Sunday's six-goal win against Valladolid: "Karim is an amazing player, a world star. He's been here for 14 years, he keeps scoring goals year after year, and he's still Real Madrid's unstoppable number 9. I hope he stays."
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Target Istanbul
After an incredible last season, which culminated in winning the Ballon d'Or as the most prestigious individual award, Benzema found it difficult to find his best style of the season after being haunted by injuries to his legs and ankles, to miss last year's World Cup in Qatar with France, before deciding to announce his international retirement at the end of last year. He has also missed 13 games for Real since the start of the season.
In his absence, Argentina's Lionel Messi, who won the third star with his country in Qatar, rose to the top of the world of the round witch and it is almost impossible to stand up to winning the Ballon d'Or for the eighth time in his career. But one scenario could redistribute the cards: Benzema winning the Champions League for the second consecutive season on June 10 in Istanbul.
"Why not?" replied when asked by a reporter if Benzema could win the Ballon d'Or again!