Real Madrid benefit from Benzema-Vinicius evolution

Vinicius only has eyes for Benzema...almost. The Brazilian was unable to score himself in Real Madrid’s 6-0 hammering of Valladolid in LaLiga on Sunday, although he did contribute, providing two passes to his strike partner Karim Benzema to convert into goals, specifically to make it 2-0 and 3-0. In the first, his cross ended up on the head of the Frenchman, helped by the indecisive start of Asenjo; and in the second, he pushed the ball into space for Karim to attack the front line, making no mistake. That’s another two assists for Vini, making it 43 since he arrived in the summer of 2018.

Vinicius aiding Benzema goals

And of those 43, 22 have been for Benzema. That’s 51%. He is, by far, his teammate who benefits the most when the Brazilian adopts the most generous role and distributes goals. Next on the list are Rodrygo, Asensio, Lucas Vázquez and Valverde... all of them with three goals scored after assists from Vinicius. There is no doubt that the football awakening of the former Flamengo player last year has undoubtedly benefited Benzema and led him to his impressive figures last season: 44 goals in 46 games.

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Last season, Vinicius closed the season with 22 goals and 20 assists (including in this case also the penalties he created). This season he already has 19 goals and 13 assists, he has focused more on scoring and less on giving away goals, although Benzema’s drop in performance will also have affected him in this regard. But there is no doubt that the recent Madrid boom (five titles since last May) has the Vini-Benzema link at its core.

Quite a paradox, considering that this relationship did not exactly start on the right foot. During Vinicius’ first seasons at Madrid, he and Benzema struggled to connect. The enormous difficulty that the Brazilian was going through to define the plays in the final third was often blamed for this, meaning great opportunities were wasted. The lack of confidence that then manager Zinedine Zidane gave Vini didn’t help either, always putting Eden Hazard ahead despite him never really justifying those chances on the pitch.

Benzema caught talking down Vini

And there was an incident, in October 2020, at the home of Borussia Mönchengladbach, in a group stage match of the Champions League: Madrid went in at half-time losing 1-0 after playing very poorly in attack, generating creating nothing. And in the changing room tunnel, Telefoot caught a conversation in French between Benzema and French compatriot Mendy, talking about Vinicius

“He’s playing rubbish. Don’t pass him the ball, bro, on my mum’s life. He’s playing against us.”

These few words caused a huge stir at the time. Months later, Benzema wanted to settle the controversy in an interview with Telefoot.

“I believe in Vinicius,” he said. “I talk to him a lot, sometimes I talk to him a little loud, but because I know he can give more. He is a phenomenon when he wants to be.”

Last season this phenomenon was awoken and now the Vini-Karim partnership is the main reason for thinking about more success between now and the end of the season.