Tag: Karim Benzema

LONDON: Karim Benzema’s scored a brilliant hat-trick as he fired Real Madrid to a 3-1 win against Chelsea that put the Champions League holders on the brink of elimination after Wednesday’s quarter-final first leg.

Benzema produced a masterclass at Stamford Bridge as the France striker netted twice in the first half with two perfectly-taken headers.

Kai Havertz reduced the deficit before the interval, but Benzema punished a woeful mistake from Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy in the second half to complete his treble.

It was the sublime Benzema’s second successive Champions League hat-trick after he single-handedly inspired their epic comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16-second leg.

Ancelotti’s side is in pole position to advance to the semi-finals as they return to Madrid for the second leg on April 12.

After losing to Chelsea in last season’s Champions League semi-finals, Real will have the opportunity to exact revenge at the Bernabeu.

Real won the last of their 13 Champions League titles in 2018 and, while they may not be favourites in this year’s tournament, their ruthless victory in west London was a significant statement of intent from the La Liga leaders.

With 11 goals this term, Benzema has scored more times than any other Frenchman in a single European Cup campaign, moving past Just Fontaine’s 10-goal haul in 1958-59.

“They’re magic nights. Today we came out to win, to show we’re Real Madrid,” Benzema said.

“We played well from the first minute to the last. They’re very important goals.”

Chelsea were a shadow of the supremely organised side that marched to their second Champions League crown last year and won six successive games in all competitions before the recent international break.

In another quarterfinal, Villarreal edged past Bayern Munich by 1-0 as Arnaut Danjuma netted one in the opening minutes of the game.

The defeat ended Bayern’s record run of 22 matches unbeaten away from home in the Champions League.

It was a sequence dating back to September 2017 and a 3-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain, at the time coached by current Villarreal boss Unai Emery.

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PALMA DE MALLORCA: Karim Benzema became the highest French goalscorer in history on Monday after his double gave Real Madrid a 3-0 win over Mallorca, sending them 10 points clear at the top of La Liga.

The Frenchman, however, had to go off late on with what looked like an injury in his lower left leg, giving Madrid a serious headache before Sunday’s Clasico against Barcelona.

Vinicius Junior, who opened the scoring, and Rodrygo also suffered problems in the second half.

“We will look at it in the next few days,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.

“They don’t seem like very serious things. Rodrygo was a knock, Mendy has felt something in his adductor and Karim, after a jump, didn’t feel good. We’ll see if they can recover for Sunday.”

Benzema’s absence for the game at the Santiago Bernabeu would come as a serious blow to Madrid after the striker continued his scintillating recent run with two more goals at Son Moix.

After scoring a hat-trick to help Madrid defeat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 in the Champions League last week, the 34-year-old’s penalty against Mallorca took his career tally to 412 goals, putting him one above Thierry Henry in the all-time list of French scorers.

Benzema then made it 413 for him and three for Madrid with a superb header late on, only to limp off in obvious discomfort.

Madrid’s considerable advantage over Sevilla at the top of La Liga means the Clasico this weekend will not carry the significance of previous meetings, even if Barca’s recent surge has had some wondering if a comeback is still possible.

Yet there will be no doubt Barcelona would love to rubberstamp their progress under Xavi with a victory at the home of their fiercest rivals while a win for Madrid would serve as further confirmation of their dominance this season.

“We have the advantage and it’s good at this point in the season,” said Ancelotti. “We have to think about winning on Sunday, that’s all.”

Mallorca had the better of the chances in the opening period, the first of them falling to Vedat Muriqi, who shot wide at the back post after a superb cross from Brian Olivan.

Vinicius Junior was Madrid’s biggest threat and he was unfortunate to pick up a yellow card for his reaction to a high challenge from Mallorca’s Pablo Maffeo, who was lucky not to be sent off.

The altercation riled the home crowd too and Mallorca benefitted, their best chance coming soon after.

Dani Rodriguez clipped a delightful ball over the top for Angel Rodriguez to run onto and the ball fell loose for Maffeo to carry just in front of the penalty spot. Maffeo had only Thibaut Courtois to beat but his scuffed finish hit the post.

Madrid’s momentum at the end of the first half continued early in the second and in the 55th minute, they took the lead.

Fede Valverde pressured and then robbed Idrissu Baba and while Mallorca’s fans wanted a foul, Benzema played on, rolling left to Vinicius, who had a simple finish.

Vinicius was key to the second as well, swivelling out of trouble in midfield and playing Benzema through on the left. By the time Benzema passed across the box, Vinicius had caught up, pushed over by Olivan just as he went to finish.

Benzema converted the penalty to break the French record and then added another late on, heading in brilliantly inside the post from Marcelo’s cross. He celebrated by leaping into the air but could not continue for long.

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MADRID: Real Madrid pulled off one of the great Champions League comebacks on Wednesday as Karim Benzema scored a breathtaking hat-trick to upstage Kylian Mbappe and dump Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) out in the last 16.

Madrid were set to be the latest victims of another Mbappe masterclass at the Santiago Bernabeu after the 23-year-old ran them ragged for the best part of an hour and fired in to put PSG 1-0 up on the night, 2-0 ahead on aggregate.

But Madrid came storming back as Benzema capitalised on a mistake by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and then scored an incredible double in two minutes, the third coming within 11 seconds after PSG had kicked off.

When the full-time whistle confirmed their 3-2 aggregate victory, many of Madrid’s players dropped to their knees and looked up to the sky, as much perhaps in disbelief as joy.

“Every game is a final now for us in the Champions League and La Liga but today we showed that Real Madrid is alive,” said Benzema.

For PSG, it was another epic collapse to add to their growing list of Champions League disappointments, with Mauricio Pochettino’s future as coach immediately cast into doubt.

Even with Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar, the Qatari-owned club’s wait for a Champions League crown goes on.

“We didn’t manage our emotions well. We left ourselves exposed,” said Pochettino. “We leave with great pain and disappointment because we didn’t score the goals to reflect our superiority over the two games.”

Pochettino also fumed at referee Danny Makkelie for not whistling for a foul as Benzema challenged Donnarumma before Madrid’s first goal.

“Explaining what happened is easy, there was a foul on Donnarumma during the first goal, and that changed everything,” he said.

All eyes were on Mbappe, who was the only player to be cheered by Madrid’s fans before the game as they were gifted an up-close preview of the player they hope will be theirs this summer.

Mbappe delivered, scoring a superb goal, not to mention a spellbinding second that was disallowed for offside when he bamboozled Thibaut Courtois with a magical dummy.

But what looked set to become an exhibition of the world’s deadliest player instead became another remarkable European night for Real Madrid and another nightmare for PSG.

“We suffered a lot but we endured,” said Real boss Carlo Ancelotti. “Karim gave us the chance to score the first goal and then the magic came. From then on, there was only one team was on the field.”

Madrid clearly wanted to hit PSG hard from the start and for a while, it worked, Vinicius Junior tearing down the left and Fede Valverde bulldozing through Mbappe.

But the surge was brief, PSG killing Madrid’s momentum, pushing them back and taking complete control.

Mbappe sped clear for the first time in the eighth minute, Neymar curling a ball into the space on the left. The stadium held its breath, Mbappe made room but this time hit Courtois.

PSG were comfortable, dictating the play and sensing the trepidation. Madrid had openings, Benzema curling just wide, but all over the pitch, they looked slower, heavier, more cumbersome.

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