Benzema corners Raúl

In the summer of 2009, a very young Karim Benzema appeared at the Bernabéu, in front of some 25,000 fans. At 21, he became the third star signing of that summer in which Florentino did “in one year what he would have done in three” to strengthen the team to stand up to that Barça who had won the Champions League against United. Days before, Cristiano appeared before a packed Bernabéu. Kaká, who came out frog, attracted 55,000.

Karim arrived with more kilos, with a lot of talent and a sensation of stage apathy. That led Mourinho to call him “cat” when he opted for Higuain for the starting job. Benzema left flashes of great class, but he did not finish making the Bernabéu fall in love. But without giving it importance, he gradually became Cristiano’s best partner, assuming a secondary role that hid the treasures that the fans now enjoy since the Portuguese left in 2018.

Based on scoring goals, Benzema was stylizing his figure, prioritizing his status in the locker room (he is captain before Marcelo’s usual substitution) and becoming that killer that I do not suppose to glimpse Mou. The cat is already a lion and hunts in the jungle of goals with a voracity that has led him to corner Raúl González himself. The mythical 7 He surpassed Di Stéfano’s 308 goals in his day and left his quota at 323, a record only surpassed by the insatiable Cristiano (450).

It seemed that no one would reach the youth squad and that no one would argue with that silver medal. But the man from Lyon has decided to catch up with the white legend. With his Etihad Panenka-style penalty, he reaches 320 goals for Madrid, just three behind Raúl. For this he has added, since Cristiano left in 2018, a total of 128 goals in the 188 games played (an average of 0.68): 30 in 2018-19, 27 in 2019-20, 30 in 2020 -21 and 41 so far in 2021-22. Raúl gave him good advice in the only year they coincided together in Madrid, under Pellegrini’s orders (2009-10). In that season, that of his goodbye, the captain scored seven goals, only two less than the newcomer Benzema. If they told us that Karim was going to beat Raúl, no one would have believed it.