Real Madrid: Karim Benzema keeps showing why he’s the MVP

Real Madrid were staring down a surefire loss on Matchday 17 against Valencia, but Karim Benzema bailed them out with the last possible kick of the game.

In the dying minutes of stoppage time, Real Madrid won a corner kick. As Toni Kroos went to take the corner from the left side and Thibaut Courtois joined the attack, Madridistas knew this would be Los Blancos’ final opportunity to equal the score.

After dominating the first half of the match, Madrid went down in the 78th minute after an unchallenged Carlos Soler scored on a Valencia counterattack. Valencia are a notoriously difficult team to face at the Mestalla, and they’ve been playing high-quality football after a slow start to the season.

Meanwhile, Real were flubbing their opportunity to overtake Barcelona for first place in La Liga ahead of Wednesday’s Clasico. Not only that, but they looked set for a troubling loss, squandering chances and giving up a disappointing late goal.

But Real scored a late goal of their own. Kroos sent in another excellent corner, Courtois rose high to head the ball, and Karim Benzema hammered home after Valencia failed to clear the ball.

Benzema’s goal now gives him 12 in 15 La Liga games this season, in addition to five assists. Even before he scored against Valencia, Benzema had a good first half, consistently dropping deep to pick up the ball and create chances for others. Not everything came off for Benzema, but in a game where Isco and Rodrygo struggled to provide service, Benzema’s hard work was that much more appreciated.

All season long, Benzema has scored important goals for Madrid. He had the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Sevilla in September at the Sanchez Pizjuan, scored a brace against Eibar, found the back of the net against Real Sociedad, and provided this last-gasp winner for Los Blancos at the Mestalla to draw Valencia.

Lionel Messi has been buoying FC Barcelona and Martin Odegaard has been inspiring for La Real, but no single player provides as much value for their team as Benzema. He is a leader for young players like Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, a hard worker when it comes to setting up others in the attack, and a consistent source of goals for a team lacking scoring options in the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era.

Benzema’s goal against Valencia is yet another example of his clutch factor and importance to Real Madrid. They are in the title race and among the Champions League favorites because of his goals, assists, and all-around impact. There may not be a better No. in world football than Benzema, and there certainly isn’t a more well-rounded one. He recovers the ball, plays brilliant one-touch passes, dribbles past defenders out wide, acts like an attacking midfielder with his creative influence, and, of course, scores goals of all types.

He’s been La Liga’s best player through the first half of the 2019-2020 campaign thus far, and he’ll be on a mission to show the whole world his value on Wednesday at the Camp Nou.