UCL: Karim Benzema Set To Equal Cristiano Ronaldo Record After Brace Against Man City.
Real Madrid captain Karim Benzema scored an 'outrageous' goal against Manchester City, equaling Cristiano Ronaldo's previous goal tally.
The hosts got off to a flying start at the Etihad stadium, scoring twice in the first 11 minutes.
Kevin De Bruyne scored after just 94 seconds, and Gabriel Jesus added the second after scoring four goals against Watford on Saturday. It gave Pep Guardiola's team a firm grip on the tie, and they had chances to expand their advantage.
Los Blancos, on the other hand, gradually settled down and began moving the ball around. Then, just over ten minutes before the break, Benzema, who had previously scored four goals against Chelsea and three goals against Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals and round-of-16, did it again.
He found the back of the net, in what is to be his 600th game for the club in an illustrious career.
After a cross from Ferland Mendy, the 34-year-old directed the ball into the bottom right corner past Ederson with a clinical finish.
That's 40 goals in 40 games across all competitions, and it was a historic one at that.
Benzema has scored 40 goals for the first time since the 2017/18 season, becoming the first Real Madrid player to accomplish it since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018.
The five time Ballon d'Or winner scored 44 goals in that season, and Los Blancos won their 13th Champions League title.
By the conclusion of a true European classic at the Etihad Stadium, Benzema had 41 goals to his name, thanks to his well taken Panenka spot-kick on the night.
Benzema is now one goal away from equalling Ronaldo's record for the most knock-out goals scored in a single season (10 goals in 2016/17), while Benzema has 9 so far this season.
He is now the fourth player to score the most goals in a single Champions League season:l after Cristiano Ronaldo (17 goals in 2013/14), Robert Lewandowski (15 goals in 2019/20), Lionel Messi (14 goals in 2011/12) and now Benzema with (14 goals in 2021/22).
Speaking after the game, Benzema said;
"A defeat is never good because we are really excited about the Champions League. The most important thing is we never lay down our arms, we are all in this until the end. Now we have to go to the Bernabéu and we will need our fans like never and we are going to do something magical, which is win.
"We are going to say we lacked a bit of everything in this game – a bit of ambition, pressure, confidence."
READ MORE: Barcelona Suffers Third Home Defeat In A Row Under Xavi After Losing To Rayo Vallecano.
Benzema was happy to take and convert his penalty on the night.
He added, "I always have it in my head that if you don't take a penalty, you will never miss a penalty. That's mental confidence and that's all. I have a lot of confidence in myself... so I do it and it turns out well."
Benzema has now been in nine semi-finals for one club after being picked in the starting lineup.
He's now tied for the most goals with Sergio Ramos, his former Real Madrid colleague.
Real must work hard if they want to extend their record UCL title win to 14, as Benzema's side is presently trailing Man City 4-3.
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