I just realised I haven’t really talked about Karim Benzema’s incredible 2021-22 season as much as I wanted to. I was too busy doing other articles, I forgot to pay attention to the man who made all those other articles possible.
Karim Benzema is the best player in the world. Karim Benzema is the best striker in the world. Karim Benzema is the most clutch player in football right now, he’s also the most reliable, he’s also as valuable as one can be to their team.
Benzema had an all-time great season, a season that solidified his spot on the Mount Rushmore of Real Madrid legends, as well as being on his way to building as big of a legacy as Cristiano Ronaldo did. Benzema probably would never break Ronaldo’s goalscoring records, but he’ll get significantly closer to do that than anyone else, because of the last season, and hopefully, future seasons.
When I tried to look up numbers for his astonishing campaign, I did realise one thing: People already know most of it, and the ones who don’t, won’t really be surprised. But, trust me, you’ll be surprised. Wanna know why? Because so was I, even though I had watched every single Real Madrid game last season, and cheered on for every single Benzema goal / assist that I put my eyes on.
Benzema was, checks notes, 1st in xG in LaLiga, 2nd in top 5 European Leagues; 1st in xA in LaLiga, 10th in top 5 European Leagues; 1st in npxG in LaLiga (even though he scored the most penalties in the league as well); top 10 in carries into the penalty area, passes into the penalty area, key passes, shot-creating actions, goal creating actions, points won per match. And this is solely his statistics in LaLiga.
I am not even talking about the legendary campaign he had in the Champions League, which truly set this year apart from previous years. Scoring 15 goals with incredible efficiency (and by incredible, I mean outscoring-your-xG-by-seven incredible, the dude was phenomenal), and solidified his spot as a top 10 Champions League player of all time. That doesn’t happen by luck. That’s just greatness.
Benzema’s time at Real Madrid could be classified into two parts: With Cristiano and after Cristiano. With the Portuguese by his side, he was an incredible teammate as well as a truly great player. After all, it’s because of Ronaldo’s goals that Benzema is on the top of the assists chart at Real Madrid, and it’s because of Benzema that Ronaldo scored as many goals as he did.
After Cristiano, we saw Benzema take over the mantle, take the responsibility that so many players, so many failed signings, ran away from. That’s when he forged his own legacy in a much clearer way.
Let’s be honest, after the season he had from a goalscoring sense in 2017-18, did anyone really expect him to perform the way he did in the four seasons after? Especially the 2021-22 season? Don’t you dare tell me that even one of you thought this was possible. But it was. Benzema proved it. He willed it. Benzema showed everyone who doubted him, that he can become the best player in the world.
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Time for everyone to give Benzema his flowers. Lewandowski is great and all, but Benzema’s just better, more complete, and I am willing to die on this hill. You’ll see.