Benzema stays dry

The last time he jumped into the sky raising his right arm was the first day of February, and that goal served to decide the derby against Atletico in the Santiago Bernabéu. Since then, Karim Benzema (Lyon, 32 years old) has not repeated that scene - not at least as the central protagonist - and there are already five matches that have happened since then, between Copa (Real Sociedad), Liga (Osasuna , Celta and Levante), and Champions (Manchester City).

In his eleventh season at Real Madrid, the French striker currently credits notable scoring figures - he has 18 goals in 34 games - and there are still 13 days left before the League ends, and at least one more game in the European crossing, with the second round of the European Cup at Etihad Stadium on March 17.

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This February drought in which Benzema is immersed, however, is nothing more than the immediate consequence of a productive decline that is born in mid-December, exactly on the 15th. After rescuing a point in Mestalla against Valencia With a goal in the 95th minute (1-1), the Frenchman has only scored two more since then. When he goes on the field on Sunday, two months and 15 days will have been fulfilled in which the nine of Madrid has only smelled a door on those two occasions, a prolonged temporary space, which, however, does not reach the worst of its records with the white shirt. It happened between September and November 2010, in his second season at Chamartín, in which he remained nine consecutive games between all unmarked competitions. A dynamic that extended much more in the League, in which it arrived until the 14 days without obtaining a goal.

The scoring explosion that took him until 30 goals last year, his second best mark in Madrid - the record continues in the 32 he achieved in 2011-2012 -, curiously after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, invited to think that this goalscorer overproduction, accompanied by the contribution of players such as Asensio, Bale, Hazard and Jovic, could be enough to replicate the figures set by the Portuguese, who never dropped 30 goals in his nine seasons of white. However, the long-term injury of the Spaniard that occurred in the preseason, together with the recurrent absences of the Belgian, has not been supplied by the Welshman (3 goals), nor by the Serbian Jovic (2). Ramos and Rodrygo (7) are the next white top scorers.

Benzema, during the game against Manchester City. David Ramos Getty

Benzema, second top scorer in the league behind Leo Messi (18-13), has needed 91 shots to reach that figure, which is equivalent to seven attempts per game. The Argentine, meanwhile, with only five more attempts has achieved those five goals that distance him today from the French. Benzema, who has nine goals in 33 games against the Catalans, is the active white player with the best scoring baggage against the Catalans (9).

This offensive slimming of Madrid, second in the Barcelona two-point league (55-53), has caused the second biggest scoring difference between the first two classified in the top five European leagues. With 62 goals in their favor the Catalans, and 46 whites, those 16 away are only behind the 35 that exist between the PSG and Olympique de Marseille in France (71-36). Not even in England, where the City, second to 22 points apart from Liverpool, exceeds the reds in this section (68 to 64); Italy, where the same happens with Juventus, leader, and Lazio (10 goals for the Roman team); o Germany, with Bayern ahead in the Bundesliga and in the scoring table with respect to Leipzig (65 to 61), there is a difference as pronounced as in Spain.

The only consolation for Madrid is that rarely a drought had left him so close to reaching his main rival.

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