Karim Benzema’s penalty against Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals, Tuesday (24/4/2022) local time brought him to a special record. Karim Benzema scored his seventh goal in the Man City vs Real Madrid match at the Etihad Stadium. The goal he recorded from the penalty spot reduced Real Madrid to 4-3 after being 4-2 behind. The referee awarded a penalty to Madrid after Aymeric Laporte made a handsball.
Remarkably, the goal came after he did panenka (penalty) kick that tricked goalkeeper Ederson. In fact, the 34-year-old striker failed to complete the last two penalties he took for Madrid. This was Benzema’s second goal in the match after he also registered Los Blancos’ first goal in that duel.
“I’ve always had the belief that you never miss a penalty if you don’t take a kick,” Benzema told UEFA’s official website. “It’s just a matter of confidence. I have a lot of confidence myself… So I took the shot and luckily it worked.” Benzema’s two goals and one from Vinicius Jr reduced Real Madrid’s loss to 3-4. They will take the score into the second leg at home next week.
For Benzema, goals in this match took him to seven goals in the Champions League semifinals. The score is special because it brings the name of the French striker pass over Messi’s goal score in the same competition phase (six goals).
Lionel Messi himself recorded six goals in the Champions League semifinals, with the last two he recorded in a 3-0 win in the 2018-19 semi-final first leg match against Liverpool. Unfortunately, Messi still couldn’t take Barcelona to the final Champions League party at that time after they lost 0-4 in the second leg match at Anfield. After that, Messi could no longer bring Barca into the top four of the Champions League.
With seven goals in the Champions League semifinals, Karim Benzema is now level with Robert Lewandowski. Only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more goals in a Champions League semifinal (13) than the two of them. This season, Benzema has scored 14 of Real Madrid’s 25 goals in the Champions League.
