Real Madrid vs. Villarreal: 3 individual battles that could decide the match

Real Madrid CF Karim Benzema vs. Villarreal CB Pau Torres

This is another exciting individual battle that will place one of LaLiga’s most experienced stars, Karim Benzema, against one of the league’s future stars in Pau Torres. And since Torres is on Real’s transfer radar as a possible center back option if both Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane leave, this battle becomes all the more intriguing to Madridistas.

Benzema has been close to unstoppable this season. He’s only scored and assisted once in his last five league appearances, but he was on a tear with 11 goals and 2 assists in his 8 previous starts.

One of the best players in the league and in Europe as a whole, Benz is riding high right now after finding out that he will finally be in the French national team for the upcoming European Championships. Meanwhile, Villarreal have not seen Benz in a while, as he was not fit to play them earlier this season in that 1-1 draw in Villarreal.

Torres is a good defender who wins in the air and has the one-on-one skill to avoid being embarrassed by the French No. 9. But Benzema tends to find a new level when the season is on the line. He turned in brilliant all-around performances against Sevilla, Granada, and Athletic Bilbao despite only contributing one goal, and his all-around play is going to cause serious problems, even for Unai Emery’s sound defense.