Karim Benzema: why is he the perfect striker today?

Karim Benzema he is the perfect striker. Today, the best in the world.

There are plenty of reasons for enthusiasm. The main one is that he has elevated the position to a dimension where assisting and scoring is not enough to describe his weight in the game. Benzema does what is expected of a 9 at Real Madrid (he has scored 217 goals in 412 games with the Merengues, an impressive ratio of 0.52), but at the same time he supplies the function of the traditional 10, of the second striker and if necessary he can even do extreme, as was his custom until a few years ago. Neither Mbappé nor Haaland have that versatility, although both can surpass him in specific aspects (power, overflow, aerial game). The veterans, now, are far away: Leo Messi does not finish his adaptation in Paris, Cristiano Ronaldo is stopped by Manchester United’s bad moment, while Lewandowski is a scorer from the area, but no more.

Something else is surprising about the Frenchman: his performance curve seems to improve with age. Few footballers get finer over time. The peak of the field player is between 26 and 32 years old, injuries accumulate bills that are difficult to pay after that age, some attributes such as speed and endurance are lost, or the competitive level in clubs with less ambition is lowered. There are some cases, however, in which the 34-year-old version may be better than the 24-year-old. In midfield it is more usual (Giggs, Milner) and in defense it is not strange (Chielini, Dani Alves), but in the front is very rare. It could be argued that Paolo Guerrero is one of the few examples, along with Roger Milla. It would be a long discussion.

In the case of Benzema, an additional virtue can be rescued: he never had problems leading, as he does now, or adapting to the footsteps of a superstar, like Ronaldo, whom he assisted 47 times over a decade. Ductility is rare. The usual thing is that a team has to assemble around a figure to make the most of an exceptional talent. When that doesn’t happen, there are usually problems. If you carefully analyze Pochettino’s PSG, for example, it is clear that its tactical structure does not work because its offensive movements are “dispersed” between Mbappé and Messi, neither of whom accepts a subordinate place in front of the other (as if it had done Neymar, something that is little recognized). The problem of abundance disappears, instead, when the individual understands his role in the collective function. Benzema is a paradigm of it, Mané another. Those with memories will remember Zamorano at Inter.

Finally, the resources when defining. We can focus on the appreciation and highlight their movements, intelligence in the counterattack, the ability to attack space, bother central defenders, anticipate defenses and goalkeepers, pull marks. But even then we would not be close to referring to the elegance of his exquisite technique. Those who make a living off the ball should study its less visible attributes, such as balance when shooting off their weak foot or placement when heading.

Shades? Many. There where the neighborhood was learning, fighting and street, it also weighed down. Two non-football episodes marked Benzema’s sporting life, who never achieved autonomy over his environment: an accusation for using the services of an underage prostitute, which was eventually filed; and a sentence for complicity in blackmailing a teammate of his from the French team, Valbuena, who was extorted by a gang that required money in exchange for destroying a sex video. This latest scandal meant that his tense relationship with Les Bleus (he did not like to sing La Marseillaise) exploded: the French federation declared him ineligible and he missed 6 years without representing his native country, which in practice deprived him of being champion of the world in Russia. Benzema’s late heyday, however, has had the effect of overlooking his police file and his proven lack of codes. Sports adoration is like this: he puts the goal before morality and forgiveness follows applause. Whoever looks for a good person among idols is clueless.

For him, the challenges ahead are not few.

Next Wednesday he will seek revenge against Guardiola’s City, a club made with petrodollars that has everything except the feeling of being predestined for European glory. Ancelotti’s men are the perfect opposite of him: their need for greatness transforms them: they have a strong hand and intangibles in their favor (home base, history, shirt). The 4 to 3 of the first leg gave the measure of how the weapons of the competitors, this time, do not counteract, they add up. You have to be a little crazy to write off Real Madrid at the Bernabéu in a Champions League semi-final.

The second challenge is even more difficult: to win the World Cup in Qatar. Logic would say that a team that could reach the top without Benzema is the favorite to repeat with him. Yes. But as true as that is that in football logic has never been of any use.