Benzema’s Drought

Real Madrid were knocked out of Copa del Rey on Wednesday after drawing (2-2) at Balaídos. Los Blancos couldn’t come back after the defeat suffered at Santiago Bernabéu. The treble is no longer possible, so Los Blancos should focus on fighting for La Liga and the Champions League. In the second leg game there were several players who didn’t show their quality but we want to focus on Karim Benzema.

The French striker has been severely criticized by Real Madrid supporters in the last home games. We could hear whistles every time Benzema touched the ball and his performances haven’t improved in the last weeks. Obviously, the striker is not the player to be blamed by the knock-out but Los Blancos are having problems in the attacking line, as they are not converting their chances.

Actually, Sergio Ramos is the second top scorer in La Liga with six goals. Karim Benzema, Álvaro Morata and Gareth Bale have scored five goals. However, the French found these nets in 902 minutes, the Welshman in 942 and Morata in 632 minutes. Despite these poor performances, Zidane keeps trusting Benzema, who played the whole game against Celta.

But it wasn’t only his skills in front of the goal. Benzema seems lost, out of the game, without pressuring and avoiding any contact with the team mates. Actually, he didn’t improve any pass he received in the game against Celta. It was shocking that the French striker couldn’t finish the game. It’s even more surprising that Morata didn’t replace him, especially when Real Madrid signed the Spaniard to put some pressure on Benzema.

Last season, Karim Benzema scored 24 goals in La Liga, his best numbers with the Real Madrid t-shirt. The French striker has the manager confidence but he’s not answering back with good performances. Perhaps, Benzema needs to rest on the bench and Zidane could give more minutes to Morata and Mariano, both with better numbers than the French forward.