For years Karim Benzema - the Real Madrid striker - has heard that he is not good enough, that he is just the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo, that he will never be on the list of the greatest strikers in the history of European football.
The Frenchman was silent, worked hard and proved to all his catalogers that what he does on the grass, very few people are able to do.
Last night (Wednesday) in the first game of the Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge Benzema scored a hat-trick and brought the Blancos closer to the last 4 with a performance to the Pantheon.
Benzema who scored a pair of shots during the first half and another goal after a serious mistake by the Blues' goalkeeper, Edward Mandy broke quite a few personal records.
He reached 37 goals in 36 games in all competitions and became the fourth player to score three goals two games in a row, after Ronaldo (2017), Messi (2016) and Luis Adriano (2014).
He is also the first Frenchman to reach 10 goals in a season in the Champions League, with the peaks before him being David Trezeguet (01/02), Wissam Bo Eider (17/18) and Killian Ambape (20/21) with 8 each.
"It was a magical night, like against Paris at the Bernabeu," the star said after the game. "Glad I scored the third because I missed one in the first half and thought about that miss. It's important for me to score goals, I'm happy."
Karim Benzema deserves the Ballon d'Or this season.
Prove us wrong.
pic.twitter.com/UziBAHvN0a
- ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 6, 2022
His coach Carlo Ancelotti of course praised and analyzed from his side: "We controlled this game and we were dangerous in outbursts. It was a good game, but it's only half the match. We were organized, Benzema was fantastic, but we must not forget that we have a rematch against a team that is European champions." .
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us