Karim Benzema has made an ominous pledge to Manchester City following another star performance in Tuesday night’s Champions League semi-final first leg.
The French striker produced another European masterclass as he scored two more stunning goals against the Premier League league leaders at the Etihad. He superbly turned home Ferland Mendy’s cross in the 33rd minute when Madrid were two goals down before netting an audacious Panenka penalty with eight minutes remaining to ensure the sides are separated by just one goal ahead of next week’s return leg in Madrid.
It was another magical performance from Benzema after his quickfire hat-trick that downed Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16 before bagging another treble against Chelsea in the quarter-final stage of the competition, whom he netted a winner against in extra-time of the return leg. Kevin de Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva were all on target for City on Tuesday, but Benzema’s double – and a goal from Vinicius Junior – ensures that the tie stays in the balance.
Benzema has now netted a staggering 41 goals in his 41 appearances this season and he is now the oldest player to score 40 goals or more in one campaign for a club in Europe’s top four leagues since Ferenc Puskas, comfortably surpassing his previous season-best tally of 32. It is not only the number of his goals, but the quality – the opening strike against City measured an xG (expected goal) of just 0.035, while he has now scored nine goals from 3.75 xG across his last four games against PSG, Chelsea and City.
The Frenchman’s confidence is sky high and despite Tuesday’s narrow defeat, Benzema sent a warning to Man City ahead of the return leg at Santiago Bernabeu: "A defeat is never good," he told Spanish TV immediately after the match. "We need the fans more than ever now, but we will do something magic, and win."
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Last week, Benzema became the first Real Madrid to miss two penalties in the same La Liga match and the first player in La Liga to miss two penalties in the same game since 2005, when he spurned both of his spot-kicks against Osasuna. He has missed four penalties in total this season, but it was not enough to stop him from stepping up against Man City and scoring a Panenka. He added: "If you don't take penalties, you'll never miss them. Confidence, nothing more. It's all mental."
Benzema has now scored 14 goals in the Champions League in just 10 appearances this campaign and has been the standout player in this season’s tournament.
