3 reasons why Karim Benzema’s Real Madrid legacy will be bigger than Cristiano Ronaldo’s
3. Karim Benzema’s role in developing Real Madrid’s future
Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid was a total beast in front of the goal from the get-go. His overall record of 450 goals from 438 games is freakish. Benzema’s 311 goals in 593 games are incredible as well but let us be honest comparing his numbers to Ronaldo’s would be unfair. Let us dwell on why.
Again make no mistake, I am not for a single moment downgrading Ronnie’s achievements and statistics at Real Madrid. However, the fact is Benzema does deserve quite a lot of credit in building up such outlandish numbers for Ronaldo week in week out. Benzema assisted Ronaldo 47 times overall, but these stats do not take into account the overall tactical nuances.
Stats do not do justice to the intangible contribution of Benzema on the field. His link-up play, willingness to leave the central position for Ronaldo to fill in and score truckloads of goals, and his defensive contribution allowed Ronaldo to focus on scoring. Well, Benzema himself says when you have a player like Ronaldo scoring so many goals you have to happily oblige and work for him. That is how you build behemoths like Real Madrid.
It can also be argued that Ronaldo at his peak had better players around him. It is not every day that you have players like Bale, Benzema, and Di Maria play around you or generational talents like Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, and Ozil at their primes working in the midfield.
For Benzema the situation becomes different. When Ronaldo left in 2018, there was hope that Bale would take a step forward. However, his stay has been severely marred by injuries. Hazard who was bought for a club-record fee has suffered a similar fate. Asensio did not turn out to be the player we all thought he would be.
Florentino Perez tried to discover his own Neymar by paying an exorbitant price for Brazilian teenagers Vinicius and Rodrygo. The likes of Modric, Kroos, and Casemiro are still there, but it is apparent they are past their primes now, barring an odd game here or there. Benzema had to shoulder the responsibility solely for the last three seasons. It is only this year that Vini has started to flourish and here also Benzema has played a big part in his progress.
When you watch Benzema play, you realize how much does he improves the players around him. He makes the passes with such precision that it not only pulverizes the opposition defense but forces his teammates to take up the open places inside the box. Simultaneously he takes up places inside the opposition half that obliges teammates to make those passes.
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Cristiano Ronaldo is an all-time legend for Real Madrid. We fans owe a lot of joyous moments to him. But there is a debate to be had when it comes to his legacy as compared to Karim Benzema. The Frenchman’s stature has grown a lot over the last few seasons. At the moment there is a debate, however, we will revisit the topic once Benzema calls time on his Real Madrid career, which, if his current form is any indication, is not-so-near.