REAL MADRID
Karim Benzema has seven games left to win the LaLiga top scorer ‘pichichi’ award
The Frenchman has the best goals per game record in LaLiga (0.7 per 90), but Lewandowski still leads the way by four goals.
After missing the trip to Girona (4-2), Karim Benzema will return this afternoon to Real Madrid’s starting eleven against Almería. The Frenchman is racing through the final stretch of the season with the intent of defending his title of top scorer last season (in which scored 27 goals), in the seven games remaining before the end of the current league championship. However, this season has not lived up to the goalscoring heights of last year.
So far he has missed 11 league games, all of them due to various physical issues. The last time he was not included in the squad was the midweek fixture against Girona, after injuring his left calf in the previous match against Celta. Ancelotti preferred to rest him in Madrid’s 4-2 loss due to the tornado of high-profile games that are creeping up on Los Blancos: the Copa del Rey final is on May 6 and the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Manchester City is just three days later.
Lewandowski and Benzema going head to head until the end
Today, he will try to reduce the lead at the top of the gopal scorers chart, with Lewandowski just four ahead. The Barcelona striker now has 18 goals after adding to his tally in midweek against Rayo, and is on course to achieve his first top scorer award in the Spanish League.
However, it is Benzema who actually has the best percentage of goals per game in the division. With the Madrid forward on 14 goals in 20 games - an average of 0.70 goals per game - the Polish marksman has achieved his 18 goals in 27 games: an average of 0.67 goals per match.
In addition, he wants to shake off his wobbly form. Benzema has now gone three league games without seeing his name in lights: since he scored a hat-trick against Valladolid, Karim has not found the back of the net. Last season he only scored three in five of the last seven league games, but Benzema wants to defend his crown until the last moment.
