He's been amazing for so long people sometimes forget how good he is when talking about the best strikers in the world.
Many players have been amazing as long as Benzema and they gets highly praised on their greatness.
That wasn't case for Benzema until Cristiano left.
I think he always gets a bit overlooked because he doesn't score the same amount as CR, Messi or Lewa but he certainly is and has been for years an absolutely vital part of this Real Madrid team especially because he does so much more than just score goals.
Since 2018-19 season, Benzema has actually outscored Cristiano in non-penalty goals...
Benzema's numbers could've been way higher if he took penalties to inflate his goal-tally.
No wonder SAF loved him so dearly. At United he would've been a monster. Not that he isn't now of course. It's just that Cristiano was the main man at the time. Given his pedigree and scoring capacity in the CL we would've had a lot more CL titles I wager.
21-year-old Benzema was the most sought-after young player. He would've been a monster on any club as the best player on his team.
Technically elite footballers tend to age better than pacy ones. No surprise he's held up better than Bale (on top of that his professionalism is quite impeccable)
Would get even better numbers if he had wingers who could finish and were better at crossing.
Given to people's opinon about Benzema when this thread created, I bet most people wouldn't imagine him delivering 80 goals + 25 assists (so far). Especially after coming off a season where he barely had double-digits in goals. Many thought Bale would take over the role as the talisman. Suggesting otherwise is just revisionist history.
Seriously this one. This guy sacrificed a lot for Cristiano and the betterment of the team. Despite all those negative stories that popped out in his private life, this guy is just THE consummate professional that is out there in European football. He's gonna be a huge icon at Madrid when he retires. Underrated as feck but when time comes he will get the glory and praise he deserves.
Although Benzema did sacrifice his numbers, he was consistenly treated as an complete afterthought among casuals and viewed as a meme during Cristiano era. People assumed he was just a tad better version of Emelie Heskey. Even after Cristiano left, most people thought Benzema served his role and wasn't good enough as the talisman.
Benzema is 5th highest goalscorer in Real Madrid's history with 272 goals. Only Cristiano has better goal-per-game ratio among their top 5 scorers. He
easily cemented his status as Real Madrid icon years ago.
I don't know if Benzema will ever get the recognition he deserves. Look no further than ""How good was Sergio Busquets" thread. Many thinks he isn't an all-time great legend & is a cnut. That's how Benzema will be remembered.
His professionalism is quite impeccable.. hmmm. Alright then, besides from the ongoing criminal case amongst other things but yeah.. professional.
or Madrid throughout his time at the club. He also took care new players well, he even picked up Vini to the training ground in his first year. So yeah, it's fair to say his professionalism is impeccable.