Real Madrid: one goal scored, two others denied, Karim Benzema's funny first match after his Golden Ball

Barely forty-eight hours after receiving the Golden Ball from the hands of Zinédine Zidane, Monday evening at the Chatelet theatre, Karim Benzema was already back in competition this Wednesday evening, with Real Madrid, traveling to Elche ( 3-0 win).

Returning to Spain in the night from Monday to Tuesday, the French striker (34) had all the excuses in the world to drag his feet a little against the red lantern of La Liga.

On the contrary, Benzema, who played 90 minutes, appeared very leggy, mobile, available for his teammates, as overmotivated at the idea of ​​showing his new status as the best player in the world.

In the 5th minute, already, he was at the conclusion of a magnificent collective action from Madrid but his goal was disallowed by the VAR (Video Assistant Referee in English) for an offside from Vinicius on the penultimate pass.

Read alsoHow Benzema became the most complete attacker

Hilarious with the referee after his goal

After Valverde's opener (11th), Benzema shone again by offering a decisive pass to David Alaba.

At least he believed so before, once again, the video invalidated the goal for a microscopic, but real, offside from the Blues striker.

At the start of the second half, the Elche goalkeeper again thwarted the plans of the Madrid captain, repelling a heavy strike from almost 25 meters from the Frenchman.

In the 61st, new false joy: the self-proclaimed "People's Golden Ball" thought to score his first goal of the match but the last passer, Dani Carvajal, was signaled offside by the video assistance.

But his perseverance would eventually pay off: on a silky one-two with Rodrygo, Benzema finally beat Edgar Badia with a low shot (75th, 2-0).

Naughty, Benzema demanded video arbitration before joking with the referee of the meeting: no, this time, there was no reason to deprive him of this pleasure.

His fifth goal of the season in the Championship.

The victory, sealed by a late third goal from Marco Asensio, sees Real Madrid extend their lead over FC Barcelona to six points at the top of La Liga ahead of the Catalans' game against Villarreal on Thursday night.