Real Madrid’s star striker, Karim Benzema started the season in amazing style, scoring a brace in a 4-1 away win against Deportivo Alaves in Matchday 1 of the league. ‘Big Benz’ picked up absolutely from where he left off last season and a lot is expected out of the striker as we progress into the season.
One major expectation of all Madridistas happens to be the Pichichi award returning to the Bernabeu. And, Benzema is undoubtedly the chief candidate to make it happen. Here are three solid reasons why this expectation isn’t all illogical but very much attainable.
1. Lionel Messi’s LaLiga exit reduces competition by a great margin
Lionel Messi made his move out of LaLiga to join the Ligue 1 giants, PSG, and reunite with an old nemesis, Sergio Ramos who’d now be his teammate. Keeping all that aside, Lionel Messi’s exit from LaLiga does lighten things up for Benzema. He, in fact, is the league’s highest active goal scorer now. Messi has been winning the Pichichi for the last five seasons. But, that is bound to change now.
Benzema, on the other hand, has always given Messi the best competition in the race ever since Cristiano Ronaldo left after the 2017/18 season to join Juventus in the Serie A. He ended Runner-up in 2018/19 and 2019/20. In the last season, he tied with Villarreal’s Gerard Moreno for the second position, as both ended with 23 whereas Messi had 30 by his name.
Now, there may be arguments like Memphis Depay joining Barcelona and Gerard Moreno and Luis Suarez still pretty much alive in LaLiga to be worthy candidates for the Pichichi award. Well, I have a better argument for why Benzema is more likely to leave them behind in the race.
2. Karim Benzema is easily the best scorer at Real Madrid
Yes, Karim Benzema is Real Madrid’s only option as he has been for a couple of seasons now. There is just no way out for Benzema, he has to score. Now, this is not to say that things may not change for the better. If they do, no one more than us Madridistas would be happier. But as things stand right now, it seems like we’re in for another season of Benzema being the main man up front.
The same, however, is not true for clubs like FC Barcelona or Atletico Madrid. They have several players who have been on the scoring form. Take players like Angel Correa for example or Martin Braithwaite as of recent. The odds are that goals would be shared between a few key players that can lead to a reduced figure per individual.
Real Madrid doesn’t have that option. Eden Hazard has been seen undertaking a new play-making approach which means the main job for finishing would most likely fall upon the team’s best finisher which undoubtedly is Benzema. Bale too, is running on a similar risk while he looked in great touch in the first match, my colleague Hridyam, makes an excellent explanation of why Bale could struggle in La Liga this season and, to be honest, I agree.
As things stand, Benzema already has fifty percent of the team goals although it’s just been one game. Last season, he scored 23 of the club’s 67 goals in the league which amounts to a massive 34% goal-share. If we are headed towards a similar season with no more signings made especially in the goal-scoring department, we are headed to a season that absolutely belongs to Karim Benzema.
3. Benzema will end up with more chances to score
The last and final reason why I am backing the big Frenchman to win the Pichichi this season is because he will end up having more chances to score. When I say chances, I mean two things. First, Real Madrid lacks options for rotation. There’s Luka Jovic whom I don’t see getting a regular starter’s position and second is Mariano Diaz, someone who’s had limited game time last season and there are no signs of any change.
Karim will end up making a massive number of starts. Last season too, he ended up playing 34 matches and 33 among them were starts, per FBref. That means he only missed four games in the league. This season too, the same can be predicted as things stand currently with no signings except David Alaba. Benzema will end up getting decent game-time and resultantly more chances to score.
The second is actual goal-scoring chances. Yes, Benzema will end up getting a decent amount of help from his teammates. Especially from a brilliant midfield that Toni Kroos is yet to join following his injury and now, even Eden Hazard adopting a creative role sets things up nicely for Benzema to keep his tally rolling.
Benzema already is second to none in the league when it comes to creativity on the pitch. Coupling that up with how his teammates will naturally look for him as the squad’s most efficient finisher, things are only bound to go in the right direction in his pursuit of the Pichichi Crown.