Best striker in the world: Benzema or Lewandowski?

[Member 109952]

Benzema for me is a better all round player and more clutch. Benzema has done it over and over and over at the highest levels, something the Pole hasn't quite managed. Lewandowski has never been able to carry Bayern the way Benzema has carried Real - in fact Lewandowski has faded at key moments in CL.

I'm not swayed by hattricks against Hertha or Koln, I want to see clutch goals in CL semis and finals.

Yeah this is the biggest black mark for Lewandowski for me, clearly a great striker but there's been to many matches in the CL where he just didn't turn up or didn't finish well.

Benzema's all round play has always been excellent - he could play as a wide player if he wanted too, but his finishing last season went to another level. There's something about Ronaldo leaving that suddenly lets strikers bang more in, probably because the replacements in Nani / Vinicius create more for them than look to score themselves.

 

[Suedesi]

Since that Dortmund game (more than a decade ago) he has played a gazillion times against Madrid, and has had a poor showing almost every single time.

Exactly!

 

[Suedesi]

Tbf in the 2020 CL one-tie games he scored the 6th goal in the 8-2 against Barcelona and the 3rd goal in the 3-0 against Lyon. Not hugely important goals.

He was better against Chelsea in February though (+ a pen in the 4-0 return leg in august), and still deserved the award for his incredible form throughout the year.

Still as a CL run it's good but not a particularly impressive one.

Agree with your take - a good run, but not a particularly impressive one. He filled his boots in the group stages: 5 against Crvena Zvezda, 4 against Olympiacos, 3 against Spurs in group stages and as soon as it got to knockouts the goals dried up...

Haaland scored 10 in nealry half as many minutes, Gnabry scored 9 as a winger (and no penalties)

Anyhoo, let's see if he lights up the EL

 

[SportingCP96]

Benzema is a more clutch player who scores big goals.

Lewa scores a lot but he never scored “big goals” he just scores goals if that makes any kind of sense.

I’m king of drunk typing this so not sure if any of this makes sense but it made sense when I though it.

Ok I’m typing too much bye.

 

[Stack]

great to see him win the Ballon Dor, what a career he has had

 

[hasanejaz88]

Tbf in the 2020 CL one-tie games he scored the 6th goal in the 8-2 against Barcelona and the 3rd goal in the 3-0 against Lyon. Not hugely important goals.

He was better against Chelsea in February though (+ a pen in the 4-0 return leg in august), and still deserved the award for his incredible form throughout the year.

Still as a CL run it's good but not a particularly impressive one.

Forgetting that he assisted 3 goals over the two games against Chelsea as well, and assisted Bayern's first against Barca.

Also forgetting that, unlike in all previous years, Lewandowski had only one game in the quarter-final and semifinal that year. Benzema didn't score in the first leg against PSG but then had an opportunity to score in the 2nd leg, Lewandowski might have easily scored had he been given 2nd legs as well. In 5 knockout games Lewa had 11 g+a, Benzema had the same but with 2 more matches.

Lewandowski used to shirk a bit in big games, but that was removed since the 2019/20 season, he's been great in then since then.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

Tbf in the 2020 CL one-tie games he scored the 6th goal in the 8-2 against Barcelona and the 3rd goal in the 3-0 against Lyon. Not hugely important goals.

He was better against Chelsea in February though (+ a pen in the 4-0 return leg in august), and still deserved the award for his incredible form throughout the year.

Still as a CL run it's good but not a particularly impressive one.

As someone else pointed out, he played fewer games because of the format and Covid. He would have most likely broken the CL scoring record in that season, he had 15 in only 10 games. And some nice assists too.

He has better than a goal a game over the past 8 or 9 seasons, he’s scored against pretty much everyone. I don’t think it’s fair to say he was shirking the big games. It’s also worth pointing out timing - for example he didn’t play against PSG two seasons ago and they had about 20 shots and Bayern couldn’t score without him.

Then at the end of the season he doesn’t win the Ballon d’Or because Bayern didn’t win the CL. Timing is everything, I think Benzema is inferior to Lewandowski but simply had a great season when there wasn’t much competition/not influenced by other factors.

Benzema deserves this one but Lewandowski should have one and maybe two. To have none is very harsh.

 

[antk]

Forgetting that he assisted 3 goals over the two games against Chelsea as well, and assisted Bayern's first against Barca.

Also forgetting that, unlike in all previous years, Lewandowski had only one game in the quarter-final and semifinal that year. Benzema didn't score in the first leg against PSG but then had an opportunity to score in the 2nd leg, Lewandowski might have easily scored had he been given 2nd legs as well. In 5 knockout games Lewa had 11 g+a, Benzema had the same but with 2 more matches.

Lewandowski used to shirk a bit in big games, but that was removed since the 2019/20 season, he's been great in then since then.

As someone else pointed out, he played fewer games because of the format and Covid. He would have most likely broken the CL scoring record in that season, he had 15 in only 10 games. And some nice assists too.

He has better than a goal a game over the past 8 or 9 seasons, he’s scored against pretty much everyone. I don’t think it’s fair to say he was shirking the big games. It’s also worth pointing out timing - for example he didn’t play against PSG two seasons ago and they had about 20 shots and Bayern couldn’t score without him.

Then at the end of the season he doesn’t win the Ballon d’Or because Bayern didn’t win the CL. Timing is everything, I think Benzema is inferior to Lewandowski but simply had a great season when there wasn’t much competition/not influenced by other factors.

Benzema deserves this one but Lewandowski should have one and maybe two. To have none is very harsh.

I am not forgetting anything. I am responding to a specific post stating he scored important goals in important games in 2020 in the CL, and it simply isn't factually true from the QF onwards. That doesn't make it a lesser player to me by any means.

 

[Lay]

You can criticise Lewa’s lack of clutch moments but also recognise he’s a world class striker. My biggest criticism of him is that when he came up against Real Madrid for example for Bayern, he would continually fluff his lines. He was labelled a big game bottler just a few years ago.

Doesn’t mean he isn’t world class and one of the best strikers of his generation.

 

[hasanejaz88]

You can criticise Lewa’s lack of clutch moments but also recognise he’s a world class striker. My biggest criticism of him is that when he came up against Real Madrid for example for Bayern, he would continually fluff his lines. He was labelled a big game bottler just a few years ago.

Doesn’t mean he isn’t world class and one of the best strikers of his generation.

Ronaldo was considered a big game bottler is his United days and also early Madrid days, you can't use a categorization from years ago to describe a player today. Lewa used to not play his best in big games before but he has gotten much better since then.

The problem with 'big games' is that everyone wants to make their own definition of what a big game is based on their agendal. I heard people quoting the same line of Lewa and big games when Inter beat Barca, but then when he scores twice the next time you'll hear people say group stage matches aren't big games (eventhough for Barca it was very much a big game).

 

[troylocker]

Benzema pretty much had a fantastic CL campaign and topped it off by winning LaLiga (Maybe the weakest LaLiga the last couple of decades, but still) so the Ballon D'or is probably well deserved based on trophies and impact, but the bottler vs. big game man argument is so lazy when it comes to comparing these two:

Benzema in CL KO stages:
Lyon early career:
06/07 - 0 goals/0 assists in 1 game got knocked out by Roma
07/08 - 1 goal/0 assists in 2 games got knocked out by us.
08/09 - 0 goals/0 assists in 2 games got knocked out by Barca
Real Madrid:
09/10 - 0 goals/0 assists in 1 game got knocked out by Lyon (ironically)
10/11 - 2 goals/0 assists in 3 games was benched for both matches when they were knocked out by Barca.
11/12 - 3 goals/1 assists (all against CSKA and APOEL) in 5 games, did nothing when they got knocked out by Bayern
12/13 - 2 goals/2 assists in 5 games, got knocked out by Dortmund
13/14 - 3 goals/2 assists (2 goals and 2 assists in the 6-1 thrashing of Shalke) in 6 games, scored a matchwinner against Bayern in the first semi (won 5-0 aggregate), was subbed out on 0-1 to Atleti in the final - They won 4-1.
14/15 - 1 goal/0 assists in 4 games, did nothing when the got knocked out by Juve.
15/16 - 0 goals/0 assists in 5 games, did nothing when they won it again.
16/17 - 1 goal/1 assist in 7 games, did nothing in the final when they won again.
17/18 - 3 goals/0 assists in 6 games, scored important goals in semi and final when they won it again.
18/19 - 1 goal/0 assists in 2 game when they got knocked out by Ajax
19/20 - 1 goal/0 assists in 2 game when they got knocked out by City
20/21 - 2 goals/0 assists in 5 games, when they got knocked out against Chelsea.
21/22 - 10 goals/1 assist in 7 games when they won it, did nothing in the final, but had worldie performances in all other KO-stages.

20 goals/6assists in 56 games before this season with few really important goalinvolvements. 0,26 G/game and 0,46 G+A/game.
Last season: 1,43 G/90 and 1,57 G+A/game.
Real Madrid has won 4 of the 13 last LaLigas with him.
The recency bias has never been more obvious.

Lewa in CL KO stages:
Dortmund:
12/13 - 6 goals/1 assist in 7 games, scoring all 4 agaisnt Real Madrid to take them to final. Did nothing in the final when they lost to Bayern
13/14 - 2 goals/0 assists in 3 games when they were knocked out by Real Madrid
Bayern:
14/15 - 4 goals/2 assists in 6 games when they were knocked out by Barca
15/16 - 2 goals/1 assist in 6 games when they were knocked out by Atletico on away goal rule.
16/17 - 3 goals/1 assiss in 3 games when they were knocked out by Real Madrid
17/18 - 2 goals/1 assists in 6 games when they were knocked out by Real Madrid
18/19 - 0 goals/0 assists in 2 games when they were kncked out by Liverpool
19/20 - 5 goals/6 assists in 5 games when they won it. Failed to score in the final, but was heavily involved in the other games.
20/21 - 2 goals/0 assists in 2 games when he was injured while they were robbed by PSG
21/22 - 4 goals/1 assist in 4 games when they were knocked out by Villareal. Only really underwhelming campain they had, the other seasons they were knocked out by finalists or winners every time.

30 goals and 12 assists in 44 games. 0,68 G/90 and 0,95 G+A/90

Lewandowski has won 10 of the last 12 League titles in Germany, 2 with Dortmund and the only non English/Spanish CL trophy since 2010.

For me Lewandowski is the better striker of the two.

 

[Ladron de redcafe]

The problem with 'big games' is that everyone wants to make their own definition of what a big game is based on their agendal. I heard people quoting the same line of Lewa and big games when Inter beat Barca, but then when he scores twice the next time you'll hear people say group stage matches aren't big games (eventhough for Barca it was very much a big game).

It's a little bit of both, isn't it? There's some truth to what you're saying insomuch as people tend to create their own definitions of what constitutes big games. But Lewandowski hasn't been the same scoring phenom in semi finals and finals recently. He's had more pedestrian performances than great ones against Madrid, since he joined Bayern (and now Barcelona).

 

[the_cliff]

Benzema pretty much had a fantastic CL campaign and topped it off by winning LaLiga (Maybe the weakest LaLiga the last couple of decades, but still) so the Ballon D'or is probably well deserved based on trophies and impact, but the bottler vs. big game man argument is so lazy when it comes to comparing these two:

Benzema in CL KO stages:
Lyon early career:
06/07 - 0 goals/0 assists in 1 game got knocked out by Roma
07/08 - 1 goal/0 assists in 2 games got knocked out by us.
08/09 - 0 goals/0 assists in 2 games got knocked out by Barca
Real Madrid:
09/10 - 0 goals/0 assists in 1 game got knocked out by Lyon (ironically)
10/11 - 2 goals/0 assists in 3 games was benched for both matches when they were knocked out by Barca.
11/12 - 3 goals/1 assists (all against CSKA and APOEL) in 5 games, did nothing when they got knocked out by Bayern
12/13 - 2 goals/2 assists in 5 games, got knocked out by Dortmund
13/14 - 3 goals/2 assists (2 goals and 2 assists in the 6-1 thrashing of Shalke) in 6 games, scored a matchwinner against Bayern in the first semi (won 5-0 aggregate), was subbed out on 0-1 to Atleti in the final - They won 4-1.
14/15 - 1 goal/0 assists in 4 games, did nothing when the got knocked out by Juve.
15/16 - 0 goals/0 assists in 5 games, did nothing when they won it again.
16/17 - 1 goal/1 assist in 7 games, did nothing in the final when they won again.
17/18 - 3 goals/0 assists in 6 games, scored important goals in semi and final when they won it again.
18/19 - 1 goal/0 assists in 2 game when they got knocked out by Ajax
19/20 - 1 goal/0 assists in 2 game when they got knocked out by City
20/21 - 2 goals/0 assists in 5 games, when they got knocked out against Chelsea.
21/22 - 10 goals/1 assist in 7 games when they won it, did nothing in the final, but had worldie performances in all other KO-stages.

20 goals/6assists in 56 games with few really important goalinvolvements before this season. 0,26 G/game and 0,46 G+A/game.
Last season: 1,43 G/90 and 1,57 G+A/game.
Real Madrid has won 4 of the 13 last LaLigas with him.
The recency bias has never been more obvious.

Lewa in CL KO stages:
Dortmund:
12/13 - 6 goals/1 assist in 7 games, scoring all 4 agaisnt Real Madrid to take them to final. Did nothing in the final when they lost to Bayern
13/14 - 2 goals/0 assists in 3 games when they were knocked out by Real Madrid
Bayern:
14/15 - 4 goals/2 assists in 6 games when they were knocked out by Barca
15/16 - 2 goals/1 assist in 6 games when they were knocked out by Atletico on away goal rule.
16/17 - 3 goals/1 assiss in 3 games when they were knocked out by Real Madrid
17/18 - 2 goals/1 assists in 6 games when they were knocked out by Real Madrid
18/19 - 0 goals/0 assists in 2 games when they were kncked out by Liverpool
19/20 - 5 goals/6 assists in 5 games when they won it. Failed to score in the final, but was heavily involved in the other games.
20/21 - 2 goals/0 assists in 2 games when he was injured while they were robbed by PSG
21/22 - 4 goals/1 assist in 4 games when they were knocked out by Villareal. Only really underwhelming campain they had, the other seasons they were knocked out by finalists or winners every time.

30 goals and 12 assists in 44 games. 0,68 G/90 and 0,95 G+A/90

Lewandowski has won 10 of the last 12 League titles in Germany, 2 with Dortmund and the only non English/Spanish CL trophy since 2010.

For me Lewandowski is the better striker of the two.

I'm not sure where you're getting your stats from but they're incorrect. Benzema has 30 knockout stage goals.

https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsl...-benzema-fourth-in-all-time-champions-league/

Another fact people don't mention when it comes to Benzema is that he's only become Madrid's penalty taker when Ramos left at the beginning of last season and scored his first penalty in the competition last season.

In Lewa's 30 KO stage goals he has 7 penalties, In Benzema's 30 he has 2 Penalties both from last season.

Another interesting stat is out of Lewa's 30:
17 are in the RO 16
6 are in the QFs
7 are in the SFs
0 in the final

Out of Benzema's 30:
14 Round of 16
7 Quarter-finals
8 Semi-finals
1 Final

 

[FrankFoot]

Benzema pretty much had a fantastic CL campaign and topped it off by winning LaLiga (Maybe the weakest LaLiga the last couple of decades, but still) so the Ballon D'or is probably well deserved based on trophies and impact, but the bottler vs. big game man argument is so lazy when it comes to comparing these two:

Benzema in CL KO stages:
Lyon early career:
06/07 - 0 goals/0 assists in 1 game got knocked out by Roma
07/08 - 1 goal/0 assists in 2 games got knocked out by us.
08/09 - 0 goals/0 assists in 2 games got knocked out by Barca
Real Madrid:
09/10 - 0 goals/0 assists in 1 game got knocked out by Lyon (ironically)
10/11 - 2 goals/0 assists in 3 games was benched for both matches when they were knocked out by Barca.
11/12 - 3 goals/1 assists (all against CSKA and APOEL) in 5 games, did nothing when they got knocked out by Bayern
12/13 - 2 goals/2 assists in 5 games, got knocked out by Dortmund
13/14 - 3 goals/2 assists (2 goals and 2 assists in the 6-1 thrashing of Shalke) in 6 games, scored a matchwinner against Bayern in the first semi (won 5-0 aggregate), was subbed out on 0-1 to Atleti in the final - They won 4-1.
14/15 - 1 goal/0 assists in 4 games, did nothing when the got knocked out by Juve.
15/16 - 0 goals/0 assists in 5 games, did nothing when they won it again.
16/17 - 1 goal/1 assist in 7 games, did nothing in the final when they won again.
17/18 - 3 goals/0 assists in 6 games, scored important goals in semi and final when they won it again.
18/19 - 1 goal/0 assists in 2 game when they got knocked out by Ajax
19/20 - 1 goal/0 assists in 2 game when they got knocked out by City
20/21 - 2 goals/0 assists in 5 games, when they got knocked out against Chelsea.
21/22 - 10 goals/1 assist in 7 games when they won it, did nothing in the final, but had worldie performances in all other KO-stages.

20 goals/6assists in 56 games with few really important goalinvolvements before this season. 0,26 G/game and 0,46 G+A/game.
Last season: 1,43 G/90 and 1,57 G+A/game.
Real Madrid has won 4 of the 13 last LaLigas with him.
The recency bias has never been more obvious.

Lewa in CL KO stages:
Dortmund:
12/13 - 6 goals/1 assist in 7 games, scoring all 4 agaisnt Real Madrid to take them to final. Did nothing in the final when they lost to Bayern
13/14 - 2 goals/0 assists in 3 games when they were knocked out by Real Madrid
Bayern:
14/15 - 4 goals/2 assists in 6 games when they were knocked out by Barca
15/16 - 2 goals/1 assist in 6 games when they were knocked out by Atletico on away goal rule.
16/17 - 3 goals/1 assiss in 3 games when they were knocked out by Real Madrid
17/18 - 2 goals/1 assists in 6 games when they were knocked out by Real Madrid
18/19 - 0 goals/0 assists in 2 games when they were kncked out by Liverpool
19/20 - 5 goals/6 assists in 5 games when they won it. Failed to score in the final, but was heavily involved in the other games.
20/21 - 2 goals/0 assists in 2 games when he was injured while they were robbed by PSG
21/22 - 4 goals/1 assist in 4 games when they were knocked out by Villareal. Only really underwhelming campain they had, the other seasons they were knocked out by finalists or winners every time.

30 goals and 12 assists in 44 games. 0,68 G/90 and 0,95 G+A/90

Lewandowski has won 10 of the last 12 League titles in Germany, 2 with Dortmund and the only non English/Spanish CL trophy since 2010.

For me Lewandowski is the better striker of the two.

Are you really counting Lewandowski Bundesligas with Bayern as a proof that he is better than Benzema? C'mon

Benzema had less titles with Real Madrid cause Barcelona with peak Messi was there for the majority of his time in Spain, a team with a quality that hasn't existed in Bundesliga when Lewandowski was playing for Bayern Munchen.

I would use other arguments than he won "xyz" and the other didn't, especially when talking about winning Bundesligas as Bayern player in this modern era.

I rate Benzema higher than Lewandowski, cause i watch both of them play, not solely based on wikipedia data, if that's the case no point in watching football, just open SofaScore.

 

[troylocker]

I'm not sure where you're getting your stats from but they're incorrect. Benzema has 30 knockout stage goals.

https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsl...-benzema-fourth-in-all-time-champions-league/

Another fact people don't mention when it comes to Benzema is that he's only become Madrid's penalty taker when Ramos left at the beginning of last season and scored his first penalty in the competition last season.

In Lewa's 30 KO stage goals he has 7 penalties, In Benzema's 30 he has 2 Penalties both from last season.

Another interesting stat is out of Lewa's 30:
17 are in the RO 16
6 are in the QFs
7 are in the SFs
0 in the final

Out of Benzema's 30:
14 Round of 16
7 Quarter-finals
8 Semi-finals
1 Final

Yes, the 20 goals and 6 assists there are from the seasons before last season, and was posted to make the point that what Benzema did last season was a one off for him. He basically scored 20 goals in 15 seasons in th KO stages before he suddenly went bananes with 10 in a single season last season. Your point on penalties is valid though: Benzema has taken 2 vs. Lewa's 6 in KO stages.

Their total KO-stage numbers are:

Benzema: 30 goals (2 penalties)/ 6 assists in 63 games - 0,48 G/game (0,44 npG/game) and 0,57 G+A/game (0,54 npG+A/game)
Lewa: 30 goals (6 penalties)/12 assists in 44 games - 0,68 G/90 (0,55 npG/90) and 0,95 G+A/90 (0,82 npG+A/90)

The numbers for goals in each stage needs this context though:
Another interesting stat is out of Lewa's 30:

17 are in the RO 16 (20 games - 0,85 G/game)
6 are in the QFs (13 games - 0,46 G/game)
7 are in the SFs (9 games - 0,78 G/game)
0 in the final (2 games - 0,0 G/game)

Out of Benzema's 30:
14 Round of 16 (26 matches - 0,54 G/game)
7 Quarter-finals (16 games - 0,44 G/game)
8 Semi-finals (16 games - 0,50 G/game)
1 Final (5 games - 0,20 G/game)

Give Lewa 7 more semis and 3 more finals and I wouldn't bet against Lewa getting 3 or more goals.....

I'm not taking anything away from what Benzema did last season, that was by far his best season and one of the best solo CL-campains we have seen, but over their careers it's hard to call Lewa a bottler and Benz a big game performer. Because it's just not true.

 

[troylocker]

Are you really counting Lewandowski Bundesligas with Bayern as a proof that he is better than Benzema? C'mon

Benzema had less titles with Real Madrid cause Barcelona with peak Messi was there for the majority of his time in Spain, a team with a quality that hasn't existed in Bundesliga when Lewandowski was playing for Bayern Munchen.

I would use other arguments than he won "xyz" and the other didn't, especially when talking about winning Bundesligas as Bayern player in this modern era.

I rate Benzema higher than Lewandowski, cause i watch both of them play, not solely based on wikipedia data, if that's the case no point in watching football, just open SofaScore.

The goals/assists stat's are from KO stages in the Champions League alone. Lewa for Dortmund and Bayern - Benzema for Lyon and Real Madrid (Remember that Lyon was by far the best team in France while Benzema was there)

Lewandowski won 2 bundesliga titles with Dortmund in 4 seasons as well.

I watch both play. Both are fantastic players, so it's not like I think one is shit and the other is fantastic. It's the ratio and the consistancy of Lewandowski's output that makes me put Lewandowski on top.
Benzema's just not putt up the same numbers, so even though he can have a brilliant touch of a moment of magic a bit more often than the other, that is not enough for me .

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

Yes, the 20 goals and 6 assists there are from the seasons before last season, and was posted to make the point that what Benzema did last season was a one off for him. He basically scored 20 goals in 15 seasons in th KO stages before he suddenly went bananes with 10 in a single season last season.

It wasn't that sudden, though. It is the combination of him being the main goalscorer and Real Madrid making it through a transition period.

Since he's been the main goalscorer (2018-2019) he scored in the knockouts against PSG (3), City (4), Chelsea (4), Atalanta (1), and Ajax (1). The only tie he didn't score in was against Liverpool in 20/21. He scored against City and Chelsea in campaigns other than 21/22 and against PSG too but in the group stages.

 

[Morty_]

The goals/assists stat's are from KO stages in the Champions League alone. Lewa for Dortmund and Bayern - Benzema for Lyon and Real Madrid (Remember that Lyon was by far the best team in France while Benzema was there)

Lewandowski won 2 bundesliga titles with Dortmund in 4 seasons as well.

I watch both play. Both are fantastic players, so it's not like I think one is shit and the other is fantastic. It's the ratio and the consistancy of Lewandowski's output that makes me put Lewandowski on top.
Benzema's just not putt up the same numbers, so even though he can have a brilliant touch of a moment of magic a bit more often than the other, that is not enough for me .

Its not just about the numbers, its about what you do when you aren't scoring as well.

Take the recent Clasico, Benzema was dropping deep, getting involved and helped move the ball forward, i didn't see much of that from Lewandowski.

Now, of course this is recency bias, as i don't deny Benzema has had a couple of meme-seasons, while Lewandowski never really had that.

 

[RedRonaldo]

As of current I think Haaland is the best.

 

[Ladron de redcafe]

Its not just about the numbers, its about what you do when you aren't scoring as well.

Take the recent Clasico, Benzema was dropping deep, getting involved and helped move the ball forward, i didn't see much of that from Lewandowski.

Now, of course this is recency bias, as i don't deny Benzema has had a couple of meme-seasons, while Lewandowski never really had that.

Which is why comparing them by goals might be puerile. It reduces the contributions to just goals output and ignores everything else. Benzema is the antitheses of a goal-poacher. His all-around play, the runs he makes that open up space for teammates, his hold-up play are all better than most strikers'. Lewandowski is a tremendous goalscorer (better than Benzema and maybe better than anyone on the planet), but Benzema offers certain things that Lewandowski does not.
And i think that's why - if their goal output is close - you have to give the edge to Benzema.

 

[troylocker]

It wasn't that sudden, though. It is the combination of him being the main goalscorer and Real Madrid making it through a transition period.

Since he's been the main goalscorer (2018-2019) he scored in the knockouts against PSG (3), City (4), Chelsea (4), Atalanta (1), and Ajax (1). The only tie he didn't score in was against Liverpool in 20/21. He scored against City and Chelsea in campaigns other than 21/22 and against PSG too but in the group stages.

That still just takes him to 4 goals and 0 assists in 9 games and knockouts against Ajax, City and Chelsea in the 3 seasons before last season. Scoring 1 and losing both ties against Ajax in the Rof16, scoring 1 and losing both ties against City in the Rof16, scoring 1 in a draw and a loss against a pretty weak Chelsea in the Semis isn't really proof he is a big game player is it? The only season he's really stepped up in the big games was last season.

 

[troylocker]

Which is why comparing them by goals might be puerile. It reduces the contributions to just goals output and ignores everything else. Benzema is the antitheses of a goal-poacher. His all-around play, the runs he makes that open up space for teammates, his hold-up play are all better than most strikers'. Lewandowski is a tremendous goalscorer (better than Benzema and maybe better than anyone on the planet), but Benzema offers certain things that Lewandowski does not.
And i think that's why - if their goal output is close - you have to give the edge to Benzema.

Hence why Benzema deservedly won the Ballon d'or this year as a striker without winning the golden shoe. If Donnarumma doesn't "brainfart give him" that first goal or if Modric doesn't find that perfect nutmeg pass against PSG, this thread doesn't exist, so it's fine margins.
Point is that last season was kind of a 1 off season for him. Without that season and based on the post Ronaldo years he wouldn't even be in a top 3 discussion, maybe not even top 5 for many. You need the goals as well to back up a best striker in the world claim.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

That still just takes him to 4 goals and 0 assists in 9 games and knockouts against Ajax, City and Chelsea in the 3 seasons before last season.

4 goals in 9 games in the knockouts of the CL is not a trivial number.

Scoring 1 and losing both ties against Ajax in the Rof16, scoring 1 and losing both ties against City in the Rof16

Real Madrid conceded 5 and 4 goals in the Ajax and City ties. It's hard to solve that on your own.

scoring 1 in a draw and a loss against a pretty weak Chelsea in the Semis isn't really proof he is a big game player is it?

Chelsea were champions of Europe. Hardly a weak team.

Benzema was the best player for Real Madrid in that tie and the only reason they had a chance (that and Chelsea's lack of aim).

 

[ilrm]

Benzema is the better footballer of the 2 but Lewandowski has achieved more milestones as a "striker". Benzema is the highest assist maker in Real Madrid's history in addition to being the 2nd highest goal scorer. Lewandowski is not even in the top-20 assist makers at Bayern. Benzema can run at defenders from wide areas, make passes from the deep, take good free kicks, play in traditional striker positions, link his wide forwards, play with superior strikers besides him, and frankly is a better "team" player. Lewandowski only has better hold up play and on everything else like short-passing, heading and penalties is at best an equal of Benzema.

If I had to pick a striker I'd pick Benzema and hence Benzema is the better striker, even though Lewandowski has more striker milestones.

 

[Ladron de redcafe]

Hence why Benzema deservedly won the Ballon d'or this year as a striker without winning the golden shoe. If Donnarumma doesn't "brainfart give him" that first goal or if Modric doesn't find that perfect nutmeg pass against PSG, this thread doesn't exist, so it's fine margins.
Point is that last season was kind of a 1 off season for him. Without that season and based on the post Ronaldo years he wouldn't even be in a top 3 discussion, maybe not even top 5 for many. You need the goals as well to back up a best striker in the world claim.

I don't disagree.

 

[NewYorkRed]

Out of the two of them its still Lewa for me. Benzema is so classy and possibly a better all round player but as an alpha A type striker I have to go with Lewa.

 

[El Jefe]

Lewandowski is a better goal scorer but no chance he's a better player than Benzema. As good as Lewa is, there's little magic in his game compared to the class he's in.

Benzema's hold up play and ability to link up and create attacks is honestly some of the best I've ever seen.

 

[troylocker]

Which is why comparing them by goals might be puerile. It reduces the contributions to just goals output and ignores everything else. Benzema is the antitheses of a goal-poacher. His all-around play, the runs he makes that open up space for teammates, his hold-up play are all better than most strikers'. Lewandowski is a tremendous goalscorer (better than Benzema and maybe better than anyone on the planet), but Benzema offers certain things that Lewandowski does not.
And i think that's why - if their goal output is close - you have to give the edge to Benzema.

Benzema came out on top this weekend for sure, but he doesn't allways shine the the Madrid-derby or the classico:

His record against Barca and Atleti aren't all that either:

El Classico: 12 goals and 10 assists in 42 games (14W, 10D and 18L) - 0,29 G/game and 0,52 G+A/game
Atletico: 7 goals and 4 assists in 37 games (17W, 11D and 9L) - 0,19G/game and 0,30 G+A/game
Total 19 goals in 79 in the big league games isn't good enough to be considered among the best in the world though.

4 goals in 9 games in the knockouts of the CL is not a trivial number.

Real Madrid conceded 5 and 4 goals in the Ajax and City ties. It's hard to solve that on your own.

Chelsea were champions of Europe. Hardly a weak team.
Benzema was the best player for Real Madrid in that tie and the only reason they had a chance (that and Chelsea's lack of aim).

If you're considered against the very best strikers in the world it is a trivial number.
Real Madrid losing to Ajax was an upset, Real Madrid losing to that Chelsea team was an upset and they were clear favourites in both those ties.

Lewa in CL KO's
30 goals and 12 assists in 44 games. 0,68 G/game and 0,95 G+A/game

Haaland in CL KOs (for a much weaker team)
6 goals and 2 assists in 6 games. 1,00 G/game and 1,33 G+A/game

Kane in CL KO's (for a similarly weak team)
2 goals and 0 assists in 5 games, 0,4 G/game and 0,4 G+A/game

Mbappe in CL KO's
15 goals and 3 assists in 22 games, 0,68 G/game and 0,82 G+A/game

I could bring in the numbers of Messi and Ronaldo as well, but they are on their way down, so I won't.

20 goals/6assists in 56 games (0,36 G/game and 0,46 G+A/game) was Benzema's record in 15 seasons of KO rounds in the CL before last season is good numbers, but it that isn't up there with the very very best. He hasn't consistantly been posting big enough numbers to be in this discussion except for 1 season in his long career.

One fantastic season doesn't make you the best striker in the world, even if you were the best that season. Would you consider him the best striker in the world based on this season so far? Of course you wouldn't. I rate Lewa, Haaland and Mbappe above him above him as a striker, as they are all consistantly delivering these insane numbers, and Kane around his level.

And again, I really think Benzema is a fantastic striker and player, just not the very best.

 

[Suedesi]

Forgetting that he assisted 3 goals over the two games against Chelsea as well, and assisted Bayern's first against Barca.

Also forgetting that, unlike in all previous years, Lewandowski had only one game in the quarter-final and semifinal that year. Benzema didn't score in the first leg against PSG but then had an opportunity to score in the 2nd leg, Lewandowski might have easily scored had he been given 2nd legs as well. In 5 knockout games Lewa had 11 g+a, Benzema had the same but with 2 more matches.

Lewandowski used to shirk a bit in big games, but that was removed since the 2019/20 season, he's been great in then since then.

Let's agree to disagree - but it's a fact that if Bayern had won more Champions Leagues, Lewa - as the star player - would have won more accolades at an individual level. IMO, he's bottled big games against Madrid, Atletico, Barcelona, Villareal etc in recent memories, and most of these times Bayern were outright favorites. You say he's improved since 2019/2020 season, but can you point out a key game that Lewa proved to be the difference between failure and success?

While Benzema used to fluff his lines (in the days when he shared minutes with Higuain), he's gradually matured into an amazing team player that can drop between the lines, be a playmaker, hold up play, lead the line, link up with the wingers, create and finish attacks. In my opinion, he's just a better player than Lewandowski.

Having said that, Robert should have won Ballon D'or in 2020 - but that 'injustice' should not overrate Lewa's standing in the game.

 

[Suedesi]

Benzema came out on top this weekend for sure, but he doesn't allways shine the the Madrid-derby or the classico:

His record against Barca and Atleti aren't all that either:

El Classico: 12 goals and 10 assists in 42 games (14W, 10D and 18L) - 0,29 G/game and 0,52 G+A/game
Atletico: 7 goals and 4 assists in 37 games (17W, 11D and 9L) - 0,19G/game and 0,30 G+A/game
Total 19 goals in 79 in the big league games isn't good enough to be considered among the best in the world though.


If you're considered against the very best strikers in the world it is a trivial number.
Real Madrid losing to Ajax was an upset, Real Madrid losing to that Chelsea team was an upset and they were clear favourites in both those ties.

Lewa in CL KO's
30 goals and 12 assists in 44 games. 0,68 G/game and 0,95 G+A/game

Haaland in CL KOs (for a much weaker team)
6 goals and 2 assists in 6 games. 1,00 G/game and 1,33 G+A/game

Kane in CL KO's (for a similarly weak team)
2 goals and 0 assists in 5 games, 0,4 G/game and 0,4 G+A/game

Mbappe in CL KO's
15 goals and 3 assists in 22 games, 0,68 G/game and 0,82 G+A/game

I could bring in the numbers of Messi and Ronaldo as well, but they are on their way down, so I won't.

20 goals/6assists in 56 games (0,36 G/game and 0,46 G+A/game) was Benzema's record in 15 seasons of KO rounds in the CL before last season is good numbers, but it that isn't up there with the very very best. He hasn't consistantly been posting big enough numbers to be in this discussion except for 1 season in his long career.

One fantastic season doesn't make you the best striker in the world, even if you were the best that season. Would you consider him the best striker in the world based on this season so far? Of course you wouldn't. I rate Lewa, Haaland and Mbappe above him above him as a striker, as they are all consistantly delivering these insane numbers, and Kane around his level.

And again, I really think Benzema is a fantastic striker and player, just not the very best.

You should follow baseball, your stat regurgitation would be very useful there.

 

[the_cliff]

Benzema came out on top this weekend for sure, but he doesn't allways shine the the Madrid-derby or the classico:

His record against Barca and Atleti aren't all that either:

El Classico: 12 goals and 10 assists in 42 games (14W, 10D and 18L) - 0,29 G/game and 0,52 G+A/game
Atletico: 7 goals and 4 assists in 37 games (17W, 11D and 9L) - 0,19G/game and 0,30 G+A/game
Total 19 goals in 79 in the big league games isn't good enough to be considered among the best in the world though.


If you're considered against the very best strikers in the world it is a trivial number.
Real Madrid losing to Ajax was an upset, Real Madrid losing to that Chelsea team was an upset and they were clear favourites in both those ties.

Lewa in CL KO's
30 goals and 12 assists in 44 games. 0,68 G/game and 0,95 G+A/game

Haaland in CL KOs (for a much weaker team)
6 goals and 2 assists in 6 games. 1,00 G/game and 1,33 G+A/game

Kane in CL KO's (for a similarly weak team)
2 goals and 0 assists in 5 games, 0,4 G/game and 0,4 G+A/game

Mbappe in CL KO's
15 goals and 3 assists in 22 games, 0,68 G/game and 0,82 G+A/game

I could bring in the numbers of Messi and Ronaldo as well, but they are on their way down, so I won't.

20 goals/6assists in 56 games (0,36 G/game and 0,46 G+A/game) was Benzema's record in 15 seasons of KO rounds in the CL before last season is good numbers, but it that isn't up there with the very very best. He hasn't consistantly been posting big enough numbers to be in this discussion except for 1 season in his long career.

One fantastic season doesn't make you the best striker in the world, even if you were the best that season. Would you consider him the best striker in the world based on this season so far? Of course you wouldn't. I rate Lewa, Haaland and Mbappe above him above him as a striker, as they are all consistantly delivering these insane numbers, and Kane around his level.

And again, I really think Benzema is a fantastic striker and player, just not the very best.

The problem with the stats for Benzema is there's a huge difference in Post Ronaldo Benzema and the Benzema that played with Ronaldo.
The majority of Benzema's career he was never the main goal scorer and his job was to provide and link up play and not to finish.

Would be interesting if you pull up the stats in terms of G/game to Benzema at Madrid with Ronaldo and post Ronaldo. There will be a massive difference. I remember seeing something where his G/game ratio post Ronaldo more than doubled in comparison to with Ronaldo.

Although I do agree stats can help show a general picture on players but it doesn't tell the full story and this for me is a fine example of it. The reason why I'd take Benzema over Lewa is that he's proven it when he's not the main man and can adapt, using his other abilities (other than goal scoring) to make a team better and win top prizes and now he's also proven that he can do it while being the main man and scoring most of the goals and has also won the top prizes that way.

Now Lewandowski is a world class player in his own right but could he make it work as well as Benz did with Ronaldo ? I'm not so sure.

 

[Suedesi]

The problem with the stats for Benzema is there's a huge difference in Post Ronaldo Benzema and the Benzema that played with Ronaldo.

The majority of Benzema's career he was never the main goal scorer and his job was to provide and link up play and not to finish.

Would be interesting if you pull up the stats in terms of G/game to Benzema at Madrid with Ronaldo and post Ronaldo. There will be a massive difference.

Clearly!



Benzemá took a step forward at Real Madrid when Cristiano Ronaldo left: "It was an honor to play with him, he is a beast. The day he left I got in my head the ambition to be more. Since he left I've been motivated to do more things on the pitch".

 

[troylocker]

Benzema is the better footballer of the 2 but Lewandowski has achieved more milestones as a "striker". Benzema is the highest assist maker in Real Madrid's history in addition to being the 2nd highest goal scorer. Lewandowski is not even in the top-20 assist makers at Bayern. Benzema can run at defenders from wide areas, make passes from the deep, take good free kicks, play in traditional striker positions, link his wide forwards, play with superior strikers besides him, and frankly is a better "team" player. Lewandowski only has better hold up play and on everything else like short-passing, heading and penalties is at best an equal of Benzema.

If I had to pick a striker I'd pick Benzema and hence Benzema is the better striker, even though Lewandowski has more striker milestones.

I'm not going to argue that Lewandowski is as good as Benzema at the link up and creating for others part, bacause he isn't. But the all time lists just isn't a fair comparison. Benzema being the all time assistmaker in Real Madrid's history means he's good at assisting, but it also means that he's been at Real Madrid for a looooong time. This is his 14th season for Real Madrid.

For Real Madrid, Benzema has assisted a goal every 278 minutes (0,32 A/90) vs. Lewa's every 411 minutes (0,22 A/90), so yes he contributes more than Lewa that way. (Özil assisted 0,63 A/90 in his time for Real Madrid)

If you look at their total goalcontribution (G+A/90) there is no doubt who comes out on top though.
Lewa since he left Poland for Dortmund and Bayern: 1,14 G+A/90 minutes (1,18 G+A/90 for Bayern)
Benz for Real: 0,99 G+A/90 minutes (0,96 G+A/90 including his time at Lyon)

Mbappe and Haaland should obviously also be part of this discussion:

Mbappe for Monaco and PSG: 1,31 G+A/90
Haaland for Dortmund and City: 1,43 G+A/90

If you think Benzema's overall game compensates almost half a goal per game vs. the up and coming,.......well, I disagree.

 

[troylocker]

The problem with the stats for Benzema is there's a huge difference in Post Ronaldo Benzema and the Benzema that played with Ronaldo.
The majority of Benzema's career he was never the main goal scorer and his job was to provide and link up play and not to finish.

Would be interesting if you pull up the stats in terms of G/game to Benzema at Madrid with Ronaldo and post Ronaldo. There will be a massive difference. I remember seeing something where his G/game ratio post Ronaldo more than doubled in comparison to with Ronaldo.

Although I do agree stats can help show a general picture on players but it doesn't tell the full story and this for me is a fine example of it. The reason why I'd take Benzema over Lewa is that he's proven it when he's not the main man and can adapt, using his other abilities (other than goal scoring) to make a team better and win top prizes and now he's also proven that he can do it while being the main man and scoring most of the goals and has also won the top prizes that way.

Now Lewandowski is a world class player in his own right but could he make it work as well as Benz did with Ronaldo ? I'm not so sure.

That's what many thinks, but that's just a myth:

Benzema 18-22 in all comps for Real Madrid:
136 (21 penalties) goals/47 assists in 16927 minutes (4 seasons + 10 games)
0,72 G/90 - 0,61 npG/90
0,97 G+A/90 - 0,86 npG+A/90

Benzema 09-18 in all comps for Real Madrid:
191 (3 penalties) goals/113 assists in 27580 minutes (9 seasons)
0,63 G/90 - 0,62 npG/90
1,00 G+A/90 - 0,98 npG+A/90

He was actually marginally more productive with Ronaldo than without him. The big difference was that he got a lot less minutes back then (around 1000 minutes less per season on average).

 

[the_cliff]

That's what many thinks, but that's just a myth:

Benzema 18-22 in all comps for Real Madrid:
136 (21 penalties) goals/47 assists in 16927 minutes (4 seasons + 10 games)
0,72 G/90 - 0,61 npG/90
0,97 G+A/90 - 0,86 npG+A/90

Benzema 09-18 in all comps for Real Madrid:
191 (3 penalties) goals/113 assists in 27580 minutes (9 seasons)
0,63 G/90 - 0,62 npG/90
1,00 G+A/90 - 0,98 npG+A/90

He was actually marginally more productive with Ronaldo than without him. The big difference was that he got a lot less minutes back then (around 1000 minutes less per season on average).

So his goal to game ratio has gone up even though his minutes have as well. May not be to the degree expected it's still a significant increase, especially for someone who was turning 32 when Ronaldo did leave.

In the 9 years he played with Ronaldo he scored 191 goals, in the 4 years since he's scored 136. His assists have gone down in comparison but that's only normal with his role change.

 

[huyn]

I'm obviously a bit biased but Benzema's versatility slightly gives him the edge for me, I dont think Lewandowski could have changed his playstyle to accomodate an ATG like Ronaldo. But the main takeaway for me is that this discussion on the best striker in the world is about two 34 years old players still playing at their peak when a lot of people think, including many on this board, that offensive players are done at the highest level once they turn 32.

 

[Buckie]

Out of the two of them its still Lewa for me. Benzema is so classy and possibly a better all round player but as an alpha A type striker I have to go with Lewa.

Seems to me that Benzema shows up more in the really big matches, which pushes the scale to Karim for me.

 

[GatoLoco]

I'm not going to argue that Lewandowski is as good as Benzema at the link up and creating for others part, bacause he isn't. But the all time lists just isn't a fair comparison. Benzema being the all time assistmaker in Real Madrid's history means he's good at assisting, but it also means that he's been at Real Madrid for a looooong time. This is his 14th season for Real Madrid.

But that's something to be proud of.

Also, you could be in a club for a long time and be very good at assisting but get relatively poor figures.

You could be Guti a great assister who spent 15 clubs in the same club and is nowhere close to Benzema at that regard.

The difference? Benzema has shown the level to be counted with consistently.

Same as Guardiola and the clubs he managed, he gets to coach those clubs because he produces the results that get him hired in the first place.

 

[ilrm]

Lewa since he left Poland for Dortmund and Bayern: 1,14 G+A/90 minutes (1,18 G+A/90 for Bayern)

Playing for the Manchester City of the German league, without having an equivalent Pool/Chelsea/Barca/Atletico in that league.
Lets wait for the end of the Liga season before proclaiming him an equal of Benzema.

Mbappe for Monaco and PSG: 1,31 G+A/90

Playing for the Manchester City of the French league, which is even worse than the German league.

Haaland for Dortmund and City: 1,43 G+A/90

Benzema has broader skill sets although Haaland still has time to develop.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Benzema settled it