Eden Hazard and Luis Suarez were both circled as potential deciders of La Liga’s title race when the season resumed but few looked at Karim Benzema.
Lionel Messi was
expected to be formidable again and there was excitement even around Gareth
Bale following reports from Valdebebas he was the fittest Real Madrid player to
return from lockdown.
Hazard and Suarez
were returning from surgery too, handed an unexpected last shot at turning the
season. If either came back at their best, it would surely tip the balance.
But Benzema was
overlooked, despite 19 goals in 36 games before the three-month suspension,
making him La Liga’s top scorer among all players not named Messi.
In Madrid’s first
game back, he set up the opening goal for Toni Kroos and created two more, even
if Hazard’s generosity meant the assists were not officially his. Against
Valencia he then scored twice, the second a sensational volley after a
feathered touch past Hugo Guillamon.
It will probably be
goal of the season and it was his 243rd goal for Real Madrid, moving
him into fifth, above Ferenc Puskas, on the club’s all-time list.
“When he scores
like that I’m happy because he shuts people up a bit,” said Zinedine Zidane.
After a comfortable
win over Real Mallorca, Benzema banged in what turned out to be the winner
against Real Sociedad and then he brought the finesse to Espanyol, where a
brilliant backheel through the legs of Bernardo Espinosa teed up Casemiro.
Five superb
performances from Benzema have helped thrust Real from two points behind
Barcelona to a point in front, with a game in hand.
‘Here to take your place’
When the
17-year-old Benzema signed his first professional contract at Lyon, he had to
make a speech to the squad, as was tradition for new players joining the first
team.
He was shy and
awkward but as some of those in front of him began to snigger, he found his
voice. “You laugh,” he said. “But if I’m here it because I’m here to take your
place.”
Some took against
the youngster’s bravado and in the years since, Benzema has been perceived as
arrogant, aloof, flash, a troublemaker, especially in France.
Perhaps he has
carried with him the allegations, still due to go to a criminal trial, that he
was involved in a blackmailing plot in 2015, which have already cost him
winning the World Cup and his international career.
As a club player he
also spent the best part of a decade playing second fiddle to Cristiano
Ronaldo, running the channels and pulling away defenders, all in service to the
Portuguese.
It meant his
contributions rarely made the highlights reels or momentary clips on social
media while his statistics, albeit respectable, never put him in the
conversation about the most talented strikers in the world.
Yet without Ronaldo
last season, Benzema registered the second best goal tally of his Madrid career
and this term he has his best in four years already, with three weeks still to
go.
Within minutes of
his backheel to Casemiro, fans were comparing it to the backheel Guti laid on
for him to finish in 2010. Once the support act, Benzema is now playing the
lead.
Hazard has helped,
their combination blossoming during the brief periods when the Belgian has been
fit this season.
Hazard could yet
take the limelight away from Benzema again but the evidence so far suggests it
will be more a partnership of equals, assuming Hazard ever finds his best in
Spain.
For now, this is
Benzema’s Real Madrid and if they go on to win a second title in eight years
there will be a compelling argument to say it was his La Liga too.
