Real Madrid: Five takeaways from April 2021

Someone besides Karim Benzema needs to step up

After the 3-1 win over Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, Real Madrid scored just four goals in five matches. And three of those four goals were scored by Karim Benzema. One of those four was assisted by Benz.

We have known that Real are forced to rely too much on one man. It’s a good thing that man is one of the best strikers in the history of the game. But it’s still a problem that Los Blancos can’t get enough production from the other players.

It looked like Vinicius Junior turned a corner with his incredible brace against the Reds in that first leg win at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano. But he hasn’t made much of an impact since that following weekend win over Barcelona. Marco Asensio has been even worse, losing his streak of four in four games after scoring in the aforementioned win over Liverpool. He wasn’t even good in the second half of that match.

Benzema scored a goal on Real’s lone opportunity against Chelsea, effectively bailing Los Blancos out. And he’s bailed this team out a LOT this season. Someone needs to help him. It doesn’t matter who it is, but one of the wingers needs to rise to the occasion and start scoring and/or assisting for this team. That’s what’s holding this team back from being all it can be.