With the departure of Christiano Ronaldo to Turin, Real Madrid have been on a hunt for a possible replacement. However, the European Champions have tried to maintain their balance while they await the arrival of another Galactico to add motivation and force to the attack and the team in general.
Many would have thought the once wonderful Gareth Bale will step up and take up the leadership responsibilities of the team, but the Welshman's injury proned career seems to have been a stumbling block for him. The team can't rely on him to be their inspiration in their time of despair and they have managed to stroll on without his presence.
But they is another man whom many have never considered as a potential leader for the Real Madrid team, even though he has been giving his best. Maybe his bests have always been overshadowed by the presence of Ronaldo, but with the Portuguese Captain's departure and Bale's injury plights, the lot have fallen on him as the most experienced forward for the European Champions. That man is K. Benzema.
Karim Benzema has had his own dose of criticisms, ranging from goal droughts to general underperformance in the team. For some time now, the French striker has struggled to find his scoring momentum and add sparks to Real Madrid's mission of contending for the La liga title this season. However, the recent turn of events have shown the Madrid forward is beginning to find his form and of course Madrid is benefiting from his fortune.
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Benzema Stars Against Espanyol
The Frenchman's recent form have resulted in the European Champions victories. Benzema is beginning to win the fan's affection and attention once more after a long time of trying to find his balance at Ronaldo's absence. Though he should be happier now being the main man upfront for Madrid, unlike when he used to sacrifice some of his striking moments for Ronaldo and being more of a second fiddle striker to the Portuguese.
Though Madrid kicked off the post-Ronaldo era with a good drive and Benzema netted four goals in their first three league matches, the road became a bit tough for the forward and the team. The bad times saw Benzema go through eight games without a goal, quite a huge agony for a striker of his standard. And his bad form reflected on the team as they failed to get a goal for nearly seven hours, a drought many sports analysts considers as one of the worst Madrid have gone through.
That moment of goalless run also cost Madrid's former boss Julen Lopetegui his job, however, it seems Santiago Solari has discovered how to get the best out of the French striker. Benzema sterling performance against Espanyol saw him grab a brace in Madrid's 4-2 win on Sunday to remain third on the league table, and also maintain their 10 points gap behind their arch rivals Barcelona.
Well, from my own end I wouldn't say are still title contenders considering their form and that of Barcelona, and most importantly the margin between both teams. However, Benzema's goal scoring form will give the European Champions hope of staying up there as a force to reckon with in thier European title defence.
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Benzema had suffered a finger injury against Real Betis on the 13th January which saw him substituted at half time, but instead of being benched against Espanyol, Solari showed how he much he believes in Benzema, thus making him play with a protective finger cast. Of course the risk played off for the coach and striker. Some coaches would have preferred the striker to stay off the line up while the minor injury heals, but Solari didn't mind in so far as he will get his results from the Forward.
It didn't take long for the 31 year old to send a signal of how awesome the evening would be. The European Champions drew the first blood in their Sunday's league clash against Espanyol through Benzema's early three minutes goal. It was those kind if goals one wins from a close range and the forward had no difficultly in taking advantage of a Luka Modric's saved shot. The goal boosted the team's confidence to a 4-2 win, even though one wouldn't say Solari's side were spectacular.
With Benzema's goal opening the floodgates for a 6 goal match, Sergio Ramos once again did what he knows how to do best, heading in the second goal before Leo Baptistao's awesome strike for the visitor reduced the goal deficit to one. The host were unwavering and remained unshakable. Conceding a goal wasn't much of a huge surprise for me considering Madrid's poor defensive run this season. They have only managed one clean sheet in 11 away matches.
With Benzema and Gareth Bale later netting to complete their four goals on Sunday, the French striker now has 14 goals in 32 games in all competitions this season. Having scored nine goals so far in the league, that's almost double of his disappointing five goals last term, and he is already beating his last two season's goal form.
The Real Madrid Boss Solari couldn't hide how delightful how was with the 31-year-old Frenchman's performance on Sunday, who now has nine Liga goals to his name this season. "He always makes complete performances, but he has also scored two beautiful goals," Solari told a news conference. "We totally trust in him and he is demonstrating all of his quality more than ever all this season." Not only on goals has he improved, but also on the built-up of team's play. For me, if there is any man that deserves a standing ovation in the few days, I will give it to Karim Benzema.
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