The situation
Real Madrid said goodbye to the League in the Camp Nou Clásico (2-1) and, despite the fact that Ancelotti preferred to see the glass half full and appeal to the good feelings in the second half, he also left Barcelona with worrying conclusions . Looking ahead to the remainder of the course, which is nothing more than 12 league games with no more importance than securing second place, trying to come back in the Cup semifinals (Barça won 0-1 in the first leg) and trying to defend the European crown in the Champions League, starting with Chelsea in the quarterfinals. For all this, Madrid needs a top level ‘nine’ and, to this day, they do not have it. And he notices it. Benzema’s Clásico showed, once again, that the Frenchman is not even remotely the player who dazzled last season, with 44 goals in 46 games, 15 of them in the Champions League, and who ended up taking the title fairly last Ballon d’Or . The 2022-23 version of Karim has substantially attenuated his virtues, among so many injuries that have been preventing him from developing normally: he has missed 13 games due to eight different injuries, in addition to the Qatar World Cup. Benzema left the Clásico with just two shots without much danger, 83% good passes (29 of 36), three recoveries, nine losses and just one good dribble that ended in nothing . And all this, in a general feeling of discomfort for the striker, who is not fine at the controls, in the triangulations with his teammates, in those tasks of lubricating the white game that made his participation so necessary, even on days when couldn’t score. It was a disappointing performance by Benzema that adds to a few more and that shows some eloquent numbers: from the past year to this, the Frenchman has lost no less than 15 goals along the way. In the 2022-23 season, after 43 games for the white team, Benzema had scored 34 goals and distributed 13 assists; This course, after those same 43 games, there are only 19 goals and 5 assists. In participation in goals, the drop rises to 23 goals.
The details
Benzema started the season at the age of 34, but with the endorsement of his excellent campaign last year, capable of convincing Real Madrid that age was just a number. However, this course between injuries and a constant lack of finesse, the theory is paid in the white club of whether it is necessary to look for a replacement for Karim for the next course.