It was October 2017 when one of the most mild-mannered members of the strikers’ union decided to break ranks.
Karim Benzema had won back-to-back Champions League titles with Real Madrid earlier in the year and was in the early stages of making it three out of three. But former England and — perhaps significantly in the context of the borderline hysterical fallout — Barcelona striker Gary Lineker was not entirely impressed.
“Is it me or is Benzema a tad overrated?” the esteemed goal poacher turned reliable television anchor tweeted. “A goal every other game in a team as strong as Real Madrid is nada especial. Decent not great.”
Benzema responded by accusing Lineker of “spreading hatred”, which felt like an unlikely about-turn for a man who was never booked in his playing career. Fast-forward five years and it’s an absolute love-in where the 2022 Ballon d'Or winner is concerned.
“What a season @Benzema is having,” Lineker gushed after his remarkable Champions League hat-trick against Chelsea, even tagging the man of the moment. “Actually, what a career he’s having. A master of his craft.”
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The 34-year-old Frenchman duly helped his team to a tense victory over Liverpool in May's final, marking his fifth success in the competition. He also walked away with the Champions League Golden Boot. It feels reasonable to ask what has changed.
Over that period of time, especially at this particular point in our history, the answer is “lots of things”. But it feels like the most significant alteration is the fact Cristiano Ronaldo has left Real Madrid.
How did Benzema play alongside Ronaldo?
To be fair to Lineker, his musing over Benzema’s elite credentials came during a season when he scored five times in 32 La Liga appearances, alongside a more respectable four in nine Champions League outings. Then-Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane frequently fielded questions over his compatriot’s worthiness of a place in the starting lineup.
Benzema was the most selfless third of the all-star “BBC” forward line. Gareth Bale crowned the campaign with a sensational overhead kick as part of a match-winning brace against Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final.
Then there was Ronaldo. He finished that season with 15 goals in 13 Champions League appearances and 26 in 27 in La Liga. He had 44 in all competitions, set against 42 the season before and an astonishing 51 in 48 games in 2015-16.
Zidane’s old international teammate Didier Deschamps was famously dubbed the “water carrier” for the dutiful job he did in holding midfield to the benefit of the playmaking talents ahead of him.
If you can have a water carrier in a front three, then that was Benzema in this period. His goal returns in 2015-16 and 2016-17 were more impressive, with 28 and 19, but his main role was to service the Galacticos tearing around either side of him.
Then Ronaldo dropped a bombshell and moved to Juventus and Bale signed an ill-fated contract extension (Zidane departed and came back and decided he still wasn’t entirely keen on the Welshman).
Far from carrying the water, Benzema was left carrying pretty much the whole operation as Madrid were relentlessly linked to Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Erling Haaland and other more fleeting flavours of the month.
Benzema’s goal record at Real Madrid since 2018-19
Amid that backdrop, Benzema went about proving Madrid might not need any of those names. As demonstrated during his spectacular Stamford Bridge salvo earlier this year — two of the finest headed goals you will ever see, plus a reward for tenaciously pouncing on an error — he has a worthy ally in Vinicius Junior, the eventual matchwinner against Liverpool.
But there is no doubt over who is the main man. Benzema ramped up his efforts to 30 goals in all competitions in 2018-19, something he matched in 2021-22. He also hit for 27 as Madrid regained La Liga in 2019-20.
He blew those high marks out of the water last term, with 44 goals in 46 appearances. There were so many heavy goals within that haul, most notably the hat-trick to down Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League Round of 16, turning a lost cause into Madrid’s latest Remontada.
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Madrid sauntered towards La Liga glory last season and then appeared transformed in Champions League play, ousting the likes of PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City with dramatic fightbacks at the Bernabeu. But they generally looked bereft without their No. 9.
The sense is that Benzema has switched from provider to goalscorer, but his 12 assists in La Liga were on a par with his best returns of the Ronaldo era.
His 4.3 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes were the most Benzema had managed since FBref has been collecting such data. He showed he was just as creative as ever, if not more so, but he also averaged 4.1 shots per 90 minutes set against 2.3 from his final season alongside Ronaldo.
A 96th-minute winner against Sevilla on April 17 to complete a three-goal turnaround was just another example of his season-long explosion. He is a complete striker doing it all, as evidenced by the perfectly weighted pass to Vinicius that preceded him heading home the return cross for his stunning opener against Chelsea in the Champions League quarterfinals.
Why did Benzema win the Ballon d’Or? Can he win the World Cup?
Having assumed Ronaldo’s mantle at Madrid, Benzema now has his hands on the individual prize his former teammate craves above all others.
Champions League performances carry considerable weight in the Ballon d’Or voting and he was the talismanic top scorer as Real Madrid went all the way.
His scoring rate was just about at a goal per game in 2021/22 and the La Liga title and the Pichichi award (top scorer in La Liga) were also part of his collection. A year-ending World Cup tournament might once have complicated the Ballon d’Or picture for Benzema, but no longer.
In 2015, he began a near six-year exile from Deschamps's France squad in relation to the sex tape extortion scandal involving his former international teammate Mathieu Valbuena.
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Benzema was found guilty of conspiracy to blackmail Valbuena and handed a one-year suspended jail term in November 2021. By that time, he had already been welcomed back into the France fold for Euro 2021 and, as such, his presence remains a polarising issue for some in his homeland.
Nevertheless, results on the field with France speak for themselves, with Benzema resuming his old role as the glue holding a superstar forward trio together — his allies in this instance being Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann.
In 16 caps since his recall, Benzema has scored 10 times, including a magical brace before France were surprisingly knocked out of the Euros on penalties by Switzerland. He will be a key figure in his country trying to make it back-to-back World Cups.
What is indisputable is that we are watching, as Lineker said, a master of his craft. If anything, he might be a tad underrated.
