Author of 26 goals and 11 assists in 30 La Liga matches, French center forward Karim Benzema has had the best season of his career to carry Real Madrid to their 35th national crown on Saturday, and is getting closer and closer of the Ballon d'Or.
Here are the five highlights of Karim Benzema's 2021-2022 season in La Liga.
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League standings
La Liga fixtures and results
1. Double in opening
1st day, August 14, 2021: Alavés 1 - 4 Real Madrid
Karim Benzema does not wait: from the first day of the championship, the striker concludes with the right in an acrobatic manner a heel drop signed Eden Hazard on the return from the locker room (48th) to put his team in front.
He doubled the advantage a quarter of an hour later in a lucky way, while the goalkeeper was caught inside his cage, and Real Madrid would win 4-1 at the opener.
“Compared to the Karim I knew five years ago, he is a much more complete player, with a lot more personality too”, observes Carlo Ancelotti, back on the Real bench after a first experience (2013 -2015).
2. Hat-trick against Celta
Matchday 4, September 12, 2021: Real Madrid 5-2 Celta Vigo
As Celta quickly opened the scoring through Santi Mina (4th), Benzema popped up in the 24th minute to catapult Fede Valverde's handover into the cage with the help of the crossbar, and equalize.
Franco Cervi puts the Galicians back in front at the half-hour mark, but on returning from the locker room, Benzema shines again to put his people afloat with a beautiful lobed header.
“KB9” then launches Vinicius in depth for the 3-2 (54th), and concludes his recital with a third goal on penalty (87th).
Real will win 5-2.
3. Sublime recovery against Atlético
Matchday 17, December 12, 2021: Real Madrid 2 - 0 Atlético Madrid
Quarter of an hour of play. Present at the start of the action to launch Marco Asensio, Karim Benzema dives towards the surface.
He stops, pivots, and, with a sublime volley from the right, propels the center of Vinicius into the cages of Jan Oblak.
A mirror imitation of Zinedine Zidane's legendary goal in the 2002 Champions League final. Hampered by pain, Benzema was replaced at half-time by Luka Jovic.
Real, launched by its favorite center forward, won the derby 2-0 on its lawn, and was already flying over La Liga.
4. Jewel of law in Bilbao
Matchday 21, December 22, 2021: Athletic Bilbao 1-2 Real Madrid
No observation round: in the legendary San Mamés stadium, from the 4th minute, Karim Benzema scores his best goal of the season.
Without thinking, from the edge of the penalty area, he takes a pass from Toni Kroos from the right, and perfectly brushes his ball which ends up in the side netting.
Three minutes later, the French strike again: he inherits a ball blocked by the Bilbao defense and seals a double in seven minutes of the match, but is hurt on the action.
He will still finish the match, replaced at the last minute by Jovic.
5. Double for history in Mallorca
Matchday 28, March 14, 2022: Mallorca 0 - 3 Real Madrid
In Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands, Karim Benzema will write history.
After a first period where the French stumbled on the opposing goalkeeper, in the 55th minute, he served Vinicius for the opener.
In the 77th minute, Benzema converts a penalty caused by the Brazilian, and in the 82nd, the former Lyonnais wins in the air to seal the 3-0.
With this double, Benzema overtook Thierry Henry and his 411 club and selection goals combined to become the top French scorer in history.
Five days before, with a hat-trick against PSG in the knockout stages of the Champions League, he had overtaken legend Alfredo di Stéfano to join the podium of the top scorers in the history of the "White House".
Scorer against Espanyol Barcelona on Saturday, he is now only
