Real Madrid: The ideal front three for the 2021-2022 season

CF Karim Benzema

The easy choice. Whereas Eden Hazard could lose that spot to Rodrygo Goes or Vinicius Junior if he isn’t fully fit, Karim Benzema‘s only competition is a hypothetical. And that hypothetical is Erling Haaland, who wouldn’t be competition so much as a partner in a new two-striker setup.

That sentence essentially gives away who the final member of this ideal front three is, but, well, you probably already had a feeling I would choose Kylian Mbappe over Haaland anyway.

Benzema is impossible to replace or displace. There are some Madridistas who downplay his accomplishments or even once believed Luka Jovic to be the better option. But many of those comments were simply born out of frustrations. To be honest, those frustrations likely have more to do with the overall ineptitude of Real’s attack. Benzema cannot always be on his “A” game, and when he is not, he suffers the criticism since there is nobody else who can step up and score.

His all-around talent will be crucial to guiding the next young superstar in Madrid, whether that is Haaland or Mbappe. Benz can start feeding a primary goal-scorer as he did with Cristiano Ronaldo at the Santiago Bernabeu years ago. You get the feeling Benz relishes working with young talent, and surely that joy would be magnified if he had a chance to work with one of these two generational talents.