The first leg in Manchester was called an instant classic. A semi-final in the Champions League to remember. Real Madrid managed to hold their own against Manchester City with three goals, which scored four times and gave up a big lead twice.
The Resurrection of Madrid was, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, „thanks to Karim Benzema, who will stop at nothing or no one anymore. He is the master of the impossible. Real died four times, but will return to the Bernabeu full of life.”
Benzema, the French-Algerian center forward, scored two goals, as he had so often taken by the hand during this edition of the Champions League. About eighty thousand supporters will come to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium on Wednesday evening to see whether Real Madrid can also reach the final.
Out of the shadow of Ronaldo
Karim Benzema is the son of Algerian parents and grew up with his eight siblings in Bron, a suburb of Lyon. His father often presents himself as a practicing Muslim. He donates money to mosques and has performed the pilgrimage in Mecca.
Benzema fasted during Ramadan, which ended last Monday. Even when he had a match. On his Instagram account, he often shared images of his simple iftar (the meal just after sunset) just before he had to go on the field. “Faith helps me to be focused every day. It gives me and my family strength, I also feel stronger in my work. It literally helps me with everything in life,” he said in an interview with vogue†
Benzema’s football career started at an amateur club in Bron, but his talent was soon noticed by Olympique Lyon, where he entered the youth academy. In 2005 he made his debut. His real breakthrough came about two years later, when he became the top scorer in the French Ligue 1. He already attracted the attention of top clubs such as Arsenal and Juventus, but only switched in 2009. To Real Madrid, which paid 35 million euros for paid him.
At Real Madrid he ended up in a team full of stars, with the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo as the determining factor. Benzema played a lot and always scored, but Ronaldo always scored more goals – all the attention was on him.
That changed in 2018, when Ronaldo left. Since then, eyes have been on Benzema (now 34). This season everything seems to be falling into place for the striker, who averages every game (42 out of 42 in all competitions). Benzema is now even seen as a potential winner of the Ballon d’Or, the prize for the best footballer of the year.
According to the former football player and analyst Alberto Edjogo-Owono, Benzema has always been an important player for the club from the Spanish capital. “All eyes were always on Ronaldo, while Ronaldo needed Benzema,” he says on the phone. “Benzema took the spaces that Ronaldo left behind. He often provided assists and ensured that the game was more fluid. He was the team player that Ronaldo often wasn’t.” Meanwhile, Edjogo-Owono says, Benzema has “finally crawled out of Ronaldo’s shadow” and “manifested himself naturally as the leader of Real Madrid.”
Benzema is the natural leader of Real Madrid
Alberto Edjogo-Owono analyst
Edjogo-Owono thinks that Benzema’s popularity is precisely because he has taken on a leadership role – against all odds. “He can attack, give assists, manage the team and score. When things go wrong on the field, he stays alert and tries to fix the problem. I never expected that he could take on this role.”
In the Real Madrid fan shop, seventeen-year-old Lucas is standing by the football shirts with his father Manuel Valdes. Lucas really wants a shirt from Benzema, his hero. He was always a fan of his, but got carried away by the popularity of Ronaldo. “His modesty is to his credit. He doesn’t demand all the attention, plays without too much drama, unlike Ronaldo, who always made a show of it,” says Lucas.
Benzema has also changed Real Madrid’s field game, says Edjogo-Owono: “No one can imitate the 50 or so goals Ronaldo has scored per season. Now Real ensures as few goals as possible and allows different players to score. Benzema plays an important role in this.”
scandals
The fact that Benzema is now even seen as ‘humble’ in Madrid is remarkable, as scandals have haunted him for a long time. For example, in 2010 he was charged with having sex with an underage prostitute in a Paris nightclub. The French internationals Franck Ribéry, Sidney Govou and Hatem Ben Arfa were also suspected of this. A request to drop the charges, because the players did not know that the girl was a minor, was rejected. In 2014, however, Benzema and Ribéry were acquitted. The other two footballers were not charged.
Also read: an interview with Damaris Egurrolathe Orange international who reached the final of the Champions League for women with Olympique Lyon
Immediately afterwards, Benzema became involved in an extortion case that would have major consequences. Blackmailers threatened to distribute a sex tape of Mathieu Valbuena – a former teammate of Benzema – if he did not pay 150,000 euros. The blackmailers turned out to be acquaintances of Benzema. The striker himself would have put pressure on Valbuena to pay the amount.
The 34-year-old Real Madrid player was sentenced in November last year in this case to a one-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 75 thousand euros. Due to this issue, Benzema has not played for the French national team for years. Benzema still denies his involvement.
For the fans of Real Madrid, who became champions of Spain last weekend, those incidents have now been forgotten. “That is in the past. We prefer to look at him as a footballer,” says Manuel Valdes in the fan shop. “Karim Benzema is in the semi-finals of the Champions League because of his achievements as a football player.”
Edjogo-Owono: „I think he has everything to win the Ballon d’Or. He is arguably the best striker of the 21st century.”
The football world is looking forward to Wednesday evening’s semi-final. The pace, goals and emotion of the first leg were unparalleled. Benzema is confident that Real will make it to the final, he said on Spanish television. “We need the fans more than ever. But we will make magic. And for a win.”
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