There is no denying that Karim Benzema is the best Real Madrid centre-forward of all time.
He was simply complete. There is no hiding it. Real Madrid used to roll with him leading the pack, and once he left, they found out how important he was.
There aren't many forwards that come close to what Benzema achieved, and his style of play is also very much unique.
After Cristiano Ronaldo - who may well play against Real Madrid soon - left, it was tough for Real Madrid to find a talisman, until Benzema became that. Real Madrid tried to find goalscoring replacements to help him, but none of them worked due to Benzema's supremacy.
At least, that was one of the reasons.
Former Real Madrid forward Mariano Diaz spoke to Edu Aguirre recently about why he did not play much at the club, and he named Benzema's brilliance as one of the reasons.
Karim Benzema was not the only reason for Mariano's downfall at Real Madrid
He said: "Karim Benzema was at a very good level, and maybe there was no room for me at that time."
I mean, he is not wrong. In fact, he is spot on with that take. However, that is not the only reason.
Mariano did not really help himself either. Whenever he did play, his touches were heavy and uncontrolled. It was tough to see him succeed if he could not perform well in the limited minutes he got.
Real Madrid had to keep starting Benzema because Mariano never really got going when he did play, apart from that one goal against Barcelona in 2020.
So, yes, Benzema definitely kept him at bay. Benzema was the reason there was no place for Mariano in the starting XI.
But, he was not the sole reason for the forward's lack of minutes. Some of the blame is on Mariano himself. But I guess he knows that too.