2. Karim Benzema
We again have a much-undisputed one. He is the club’s second-highest goalscorer with 323 goals tied with Raul and also the club’s top assist provider. I am, of course, talking about the undisputed striker King of Madrid, Karim Benzema. Benzema is a true legend of the club and he knows. Yet, he has evolved to a newer elite level where he can channel all his nerves to the right places and perform at the highest possible level week in and week out. He is 34 years old at the moment and much like Lukita, King Karim is aging finer like wine.
Karim Benzema has eclipsed Raul in terms of importance to the club, in my opinion. Karim is having to lead an attack that had no other protagonist other than him for two seasons. It was only in this season that Vinicius Jr stepped up with all the improvement. Real Madrid’s attack has been a one-man contingent in the near past and that one man has always been Karim ‘the dream’ Benzema.
His recent performances in the Champions League are enough to suggest that he merits the ‘legend’ status inside the club. He scored two back-to-back hat-tricks in the Champions League knockouts against PSG and Chelsea this season. In said hat-tricks, he broke his own record of being the oldest hat-trick scorer in the competition. Karim Benzema’s performances, lately, have been instrumental to Los Blancos and it has been so ever since Cristiano Ronaldo left for Juventus. He knew he had to step up and boy, did he!
Over the years, Benzema has showcased all his abilities for Real Madrid. He had a different role in the attack when he played with the world’s greatest ever footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo. He had to draw more defenders and work in close space to create openings. Ever since he left, Benzema took over as the main goal scorer. And, now that Real Madrid has other players who can score, we are witnessing the best of Benzema with all his little tricks. He scores, he creates, and he links up play. He does everything and no doubt, there isn’t a better player than him in world football at the moment.
With Real Madrid, Benzema has won four Champions League titles, four Club World Cups, four league titles, four Spanish Super Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, and two Copa del Reys. He has a few more years of life as a Real Madrid player as such he could end up creating a new record for most titles with the club. If anything is missing that is a Ballon d’Or – which he is the favorite to win this season – and a FIFA World Cup with his national side. We’ll see how that goes for Benzema. But, there cannot be any questions about the fact that he is an absolute Blancos’ Legend.