Just how good a striker was Karim Benzema? You wouldn’t get any sort of idea if you checked his social-media posts. On a weekend when two legendary top-flight careers ended, the headlines have been dominated by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s “I say goodbye to football”. There has been no such statement from Benzema. First, unlike Zlatan, he isn’t retiring, merely moving to Saudi Arabia for one final pay-cheque. And secondly, Benzema was never about the “I”. When the dust eventually settles on the kind of career that few No.9s have enjoyed, maybe we will finally acknowledge that Benzema was one of the elite.
Benzema was 21, and one of the most coveted players in Europe when he left Lyon for Real in the summer of 2009. He had already won four Ligue 1 titles by then, but his arrival at the Santiago Bernabeu was completely overshadowed by the presence of another summer signing. For much of the next nine years, Benzema was part of the support cast for Cristiano Ronaldo. Gareth Bale would join in 2013, but there was never any doubt over who would be the tip of the spear.
By the time Ronaldo left in 2018, he had banged in an incredible 450 goals in 438 appearances for Real. In that same period, Benzema scored 192 goals in 412 games – a stunning return by normal standards, but merely modest when stacked up against Ronaldo’s numbers.
But the comparisons were not only odious, they were also deeply unfair. Real, in those years, functioned almost like an elite cycling team. Ronaldo was unquestionably their main rider, their yellow-jersey prospect. Everyone else, to use the language of the Tour de France, was a domestique, whose role was primarily to help him score.
If Benzema resented not being the main man, he never once showed it. Apart from the goals he scored, he ran tirelessly and create both space and chances for his teammates. But whenever his goal output dropped – he had 20 from 50 games in 2012-13, and 12 from 47 in 2017-18, Ronaldo’s last season – the more impatient fans would get on his back.
Benzema never responded. But his numbers after Ronaldo moved to Juventus are mind-boggling. Including his final goal, a penalty against Athletic Bilbao, he scored 162 goals in 236 games over the past five seasons. That tally included 34 in 48 Champions League games, including 15 in the 2021-22 season, as Real beat Liverpool in the final for a 14th title – twice as many as any other club.
In the same period, Ronaldo scored 128 goals in 188 matches before leaving for Saudi Arabia. Among those were 22 Champions League goals from 36 games. On both counts, Benzema had a better goals-per-game ratio.
But Benzema’s contribution to Real in the post-CR7 era goes far beyond those goals and the Champions League success last summer. His selfless running and leadership played a huge part in helping both Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo to settle. At times, the combination with Vinicius was almost telepathic. Earlier this season, Liverpool took an early 2-0 lead at Anfield before Vinicius led a comeback that tore the home side to shreds.
Benzema link-up play and the way he ghosted into space were an object lesson in how to play the No.9 position. It was only fitting that he slammed in an emphatic finish as the rout was completed in the second half.
This is a good time to go. Towards the end of the season, especially when Manchester City outclassed Real in the Champions League semifinal, Benzema was a peripheral figure. The ease with which City managed the second leg at home was a sign that the time had come for Real to move on from some of their greats of the past decade.
With replacements already in place, and more, like Jude Bellingham, to come, it’s only a matter of time before Luka Modric and Toni Kroos also follow Benzema out of the exit door. Marco Asensio has already decamped to Paris Saint-Germain, and Eden Hazard, such a colossal disappointment over his four-year stay, had his contract torn up a season early.
It seems likely that Jeddah and Al Ittihad will be Benzema’s next destination. Over the coming days and weeks, you may hear from him about those 14 years in Madrid, and a career like few others. Just don’t expect too many “I”s in those remarks.