Real Madrid reached the Champions League Final after completing yet another miraculous comeback. Los Blancos seemed down and out with City leading 3-5 on aggregate with just 1 minute of normal time left to play. However, Real Madrid refused to go down without a fight and once again the unthinkable unfolded before our eyes.
Real Madrid turned the tie around scoring two goals in the space of two minutes making it 5-5 on aggregate and taking the game to Extra Time. Rodrygo’s exquisite finishing gave Real Madrid hope who had failed to register a single shot on target before that.
Real Madrid then got a penalty in Extra time and Karim Benzema stepped up to calmly slot the penalty in the right low corner to give Real Madrid 6-5 lead on aggregate and complete a historical comeback.
This was unbelievable even for Real Madrid’s own high standards. Even they couldn’t believe what they have achieved.
Karim Benzema has now scored 15 Champions League goals which bring him joint level with Cristiano Ronaldo’s third highest goal scoring season. The record for most goals in a single Champions League season is 17, scored by Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2013-14 season.
Karim Benzema also equaled Ronaldo’s record of most UCL knock out goals in a single season. Ronaldo scored 10 Knock out goals in the 2016-17 campaign and Benzema has already leveled that with 1 game to play.
Benzema and Ronaldo seem to have all the top records in the Champions League to their names now. While it is suggested that Karim Benzema played second fiddle to Ronaldo and helped him succeed, Benzema has insisted that Ronaldo helped him a lot in his career.
In an interview with Lequipe, Karim Benzema said:
“People talk about how much I helped Cristiano, but he really helped me a lot too. He’s the player who gave me the most assists.”
Benzema downplayed the notion that only he helped Cristiano by admitting Cristiano Ronaldo helped him as much as he did.