REAL MADRID LEGEND COULD WIN HIS FIRST TROPHY AS CLUB CAPTAIN

Karim Benzema’s legacy at Real Madrid is special. While he has been an indispensable part of the team for nearly a decade, his importance in the last two seasons has been unparalleled. Since his move to the club in 2009, he has won the UEFA Champions League five times, four La Liga titles, three UEFA Super Cups, two Copa del Rey’s, and four Spanish Super Cups. Yet, Wednesday could hold something special for the striker. If Real Madrid win the UEFA Super Cup in Helsinki, it will be Karim Benzema’s first trophy as the club captain.

While the French star donned the captain’s armband on multiple occasions in recent years, the departure of Marcelo means that he now is the primary captain of the team for the first time in his career. Interestingly, he is only Real Madrid’s third foreign captain in the last century as the club usually grants Spanish internationals or homegrown talents that privilege. Benzema’s appointment is not only fair but deserved. He was the biggest reason behind Los Blancos‘ success last season as he pulled the team out of trouble time and time again. Read More

BENZEMA WRITES TO REAL

French striker Karim Benzema has written to the Real Madrid squad after being allowed on extended leave following the end of the Euro 2012. The French striker suffered in disappointment in the Euro 2012 in the quarter-final stage after they lost to eventual champions Spain. Despite this, Karim Benzema can from the last season as a very successful one after he lifted the la Liga title with his club team Real Madrid. He will be looking to go one better this time around by winning the Champions League title with his club this season.

Real Madrid manager José Mourinho decided to give Karim Benzema an extended holiday after he was extremely tired following a long and hard season with his club team and the international team. As a result, he was given the permission to not return to training until the 24th of July while his other teammates, who were not involved in international duty, reported on July 16. Almost every player involved in the Euro 2012 have been granted an extended holiday by the Real Madrid manager José Mourinho. He will be hoping that such an important break will play its part in the second half of the campaign when usually tiredness affects the players who took part in the international duty.

Real Madrid will be taking part in the first friendly match of the pre-season when they take on Oviedo on Tuesday. Karim Benzema has also become the surprise transfer target of Premier league club Tottenham. Real Madrid are interested in signing Luka Modric from Tottenham, while the Premier league club are interested in taking the 24-year-old striker to England. After initially struggling to settle with life at the Spanish capital, Karim Benzema has become a major force in recent seasons and it would take a lot of money to prize him away from the Santiago Bernabeu.

IMPRESSIVE FORM

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema continued his impressive form as he scored two goals against Sevilla during the weekend, which helped Real Madrid close in on the title. As a result of this 3-0 win, Real Madrid now have a 10 point advantage at the top of the table. This means that the club would be given the title if Barcelona lost their match in hand against Rayo Vallecano later in the evening. This has been a tremendous achievement from Real Madrid and it would be their first title after three years. Karim Benzema has been one of the players of the season for Real Madrid this season.

He once again scored two goals against Sevilla to give Real Madrid a comfortable 3-0 win. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the other goal for Real Madrid. Real Madrid were coming into the match on the back of the Champions League semi-final exit at the hands of Bayern Munich. However, they showed no signs of disappointment from the midweek result, as they continued to set pace in the Spanish league. Real Madrid now have the most number of goals scored by any team in the Spanish league after the 3-0 win. If Madrid win the title this season, it will be the 32nd league title in their history.

“This is good for us, it was a very important game for us as we continue on looking to be champions. The Champions League is in the past, we only care about the league now,” Benzema said after the 3-0 win over Sevilla. Apart from scoring two goals, Benzema also created the goal for Cristiano Ronaldo. The two goals scored against Sevilla mean that Karim Benzema has now got 31 goals in all competitions this season, while he has scored 20 in the league alone.

BENZEMA SALUTES IMPORTANT WIN

Karim Benzema has said that it was very much important to win against Real Sociedad, as any other result would have given Barcelona the opportunity to close the gap. Barcelona are currently in the second position in the Spanish la Liga, which is the condition that one would not have witnessed in the last three years. The French forward scored in the match against Real Sociedad to give Real Madrid are 4-0 win. Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel di Maria were the other scorers for Real Madrid on the night. Even though Barcelona managed to win 5-1 against a very good Valencia side, they could do nothing about the advantage Real Madrid currently have over the Catalan club.

There was some controversy surrounding the second goal Real Madrid scored against Real Sociedad. Many are suggesting that it was not Karim Benzema who scored the goal, but it was defender Sergio Ramos who had the last touch. The former Lyon striker, however, has said that he is not worried about the goal scorer in the game, as the most important thing was to secure victory, which would prevent Barcelona from closing the gap. Real Madrid have one major test to pass in the route to the title – facing Barcelona at the Camp Nou.

“It was a great game in the end. I do not know if the second goal was mine or Sergio [Ramos’], but I do not care because it was important to win. We will continue fighting until the end,” Karim Benzema said after the 4-0 win. Real Madrid will be next facing Rayo Vallecano, and they are expected to provide a stern competition to Real Madrid. Barcelona, meanwhile, will be facing Real Madrid’s archrivals Atlético Madrid, but Guardiola will have to be aware of the fact that Barcelona’s away form has been extremely poor this season.