Benzema undeserving of privileged status at Real Madrid
I am fed up with the debate surrounding Karim Benzema. It is so evident that his numbers do not correspond with his privileged status (being the Real Madrid centre forward is only within reach for the cream of the crop), that it is difficult to understand why the French striker is the subject of such official protectionism.
Benzema goal-less in Champions League finals
It is not a question of comparison against the No. 9s that have consecrated the history of the club, like Santillana, Hugo Sánchez, Zamorano, Ronaldo, or Van Nistelrooy. That would be cruel on my part. Nor am I going to cling to the unbelievable fact that Karim has not scored a single goal in the three Champions League finals he has taken part in (in Lisbon, Cardiff, and Milan), the 2014 Copa del Rey final against Barcelona in Mestalla (in the 2011 final Jose Mourinho did not pick him), nor in three European Super Cups in 2014, 2016, and 2017. You will all tell me if that passes the MOT at a club with the highest demands that I know. Those are facts, not words.
Morata, Mariano, Higuaín cast aside
But the worst thing is seeing the number of strikers that have fallen by the wayside at Real Madrid because it was impossible to compete with Benzema. Gonzalo Higuaín, Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández, Álvaro Morata, and Mariano have better figures and averages. Karim will turn 30 years old in December. And in what we have seen of 2017 so far he has only scored two more goals than Casemiro, three less than Isco, and the same as Marco Asensio. I must be the blind one…