Benzema is a cat in 'Can Barça'

Benzema is ‘cat’, as Mourinho would say, in his games at the Camp Nou. He has only been able to score three goals in his 18 appearances in the Barcelona fiefdom, two of them, being very young, with Olympique de Lyon, both in the Champions League. A very different Benzema from the one that has been seen since Cristiano left Real Madrid, when he has taken a step forward, but with that pending issue still … who knows if today is his day.

It took the French 462 minutes of play at the Camp Nou to score each of his three goals. It's the perfect setting for me to break that spell and, really, a poor start to the season. He has only achieved one goal (in the league game against Levante).

In reality, Benzema has only scored one goal in the last 12 Classics he has played (both at home and away). At the Camp Nou, of the 16 played with Real Madrid there, he has won three. Two of those three victories were in the league, one in the 2015-16 campaign (where he also scored) and optra with Mourinho, in 2011-12. The other was in the Super Cup in 2017.

Benzema appears at the Camp Nou, this time, as the great hope of Madrid alongside Vinicius. He is the man who is supporting the team as of late. Regarding his change since Cristiano is not there, the numbers speak clearly. In the two full seasons without the Portuguese he has scored 30% and 27% of the team's total goals. When Cristiano was there, he never exceeded 20% (see table).