After being benched in the first-leg in Munich, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane elected to start striker Karim Benzema up top with Cristiano Ronaldo. The Frenchmen made the most of the opportunity scoring both goals for Los Blancos today.
He had just two shots, but those shots led to both Real Madrid goals in the second-leg against Bayern Tuesday. While Cristiano was again silenced by the stifling defense from the German side, the Big Benz made the most of his 51 touches.
I have said several times this season that Karim is a waste of space on the pitch and the club needs to bring in a better striker to play alongside Ronaldo.
However, the 30-year-old made me eat my words in this match.
The first goal Benzema scored in the 11th minute was a thing of beauty as he made the perfect move to get on the end of Marcelo’s cross, beating Sven Ulreich easily at the back post.
Karim Benzema ⚽️⚽️
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 1, 2018
- First double in Europe since 2014
- Four goals in semi-finals
- One goal away from equalling Ruud van Nistelrooy's #UCL tally pic.twitter.com/H5YXFIzRIH
With his impressive performance in Tuesday’s semifinal, Karim finds himself very close to breaking Ruud van Nistelrooy’s total goals in the UCL. This was a very different Karim Benzema we saw in Madrid.
The striker looked hungry, determined, and smart as he made all the right moves and decisions on and off the ball.
Looking at Benz’s stats through his 72 minutes on the field shows how fantastic he really was.
While his passing was lacking at 75 percent, his four dribbles, seven recoveries, and link up with the midfield was on full display in this leg. We have talked so much on The Real Champs about how if Karim can find the back of the net, Real Madrid succeeds.
Case and point from his play today.
While his second goal was not as pretty as the first, his ability to pressure Ulreich into making a horrible mistake, followed by his calm finish in the empty net was a welcoming sight for us Benzema haters.
7 - Karim Benzema made seven recoveries against Bayern, more than any other Real Madrid player in the game and more than in any other game at Bernabeu in his career. Star. pic.twitter.com/TjhCp76GW2
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) May 1, 2018
I am a bit surprised Karim only received an 8.5 rating on WhoScored.com. He was the key player in this match and single handily propelled Real Madrid into their third straight UCL Final.
Next: Real Madrid 2 – 2 Bayern Munich: Match recap
My hope going forward is that Benz can close the season out playing like he did today. This was the striker’s first goal in over a month and first in the Champions League since he scored two against APOEL way back in mid-November.
The weight is off his shoulders now. Let’s all hope he can carry this form into the Final. For today, Karim is the hero and it is clear from Ronaldo’s celebration after the match how much it truly meant.
Look at the way Ronaldo hugged Benzema 😩😩❤️ pic.twitter.com/5VKFHuLO8A
— A (@IconicCristiano) May 1, 2018