Karim Benzema's top 10 Real Madrid moments - ranked

This game, a 3-1 loss, wasn't a memorable scoreline from a Madrid perspective, but Benzema certainly made it a game early when he only needed 25 seconds to score in El Clasico in December 2011. It wasn't a particularly pretty goal, either — the French forward was gifted a tap-in after a series of Barcelona errors. Still, the strike got him into the Clasico record books, a feat in its own right.

Another Champions League tie that seemed lost. Another Benzema goal. In April 2022, Chelsea dragged themselves back into a quarter-final that was once beyond them, leveling the score at 4-4 at the end of normal time in the second leg. But Benzema turned the tie once more, this time with a driven header after a piece of Vinicius Jr trickery.

Pick. That. Out. Most of Benzema's goals are sneaky touches or deft headers. He's a lethal finisher in his own right, but he's never really been a flashy player. But he challenged that notion in October 2010 in a Champions League clash with Ajax.

It was a move made by legends: Ronaldo and Marcelo cleared space, while Kaka surged down the right. His dink across the box was behind Benzema, but the forward rose, swinging his right leg in the air as he fell to the ground. A dream of a bicycle kick.

When Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid teams swarm, it's hard to resist. But Benzema didn't break. In the 2017 Champions League semi-final, Benzema received a speculative ball down the line, and dutifully chased it into the corner flag. And as Diego Godin and Stefan Savic closed in, Benzema expertly evaded pressure, needing five touches of jagged turns and body feints to set up Isco's crucial away goal, one that sent Los Blancos to the final.

At the time, Madrid were on the verge of letting a 3-0 first-leg lead slip. Instead, they ran out convincing winners and would claim a second straight Champions League trophy a month later.

It takes a lot of goals to climb up Real Madrid's all-time goalscoring charts, and Benzema has bagged his fair share. In February 2023, he overtook a club legend in Raul, bagging a brace against Elche to move to second all-time on Los Blancos' goalscoring list.

The Frenchman is still well off first-placed Ronaldo, and, ironically, will see his chances of overtaking the Portuguese ended by leaving to join him in the Saudi Arabian Pro League. But being second to one of the game's greats is nothing to be ashamed of.

Liverpool fans, look away. There is a lot still up for debate about Loris Karius' 2018 Champions League final performance. Jurgen Klopp has referenced the fact that the goalkeeper was playing through a concussion, while Madrid fans would probably argue that the goalkeeper just had a stinker.

Either way, this was the goal that set it off. Benzema simply got in the way of a Karius throw, speculatively sticking a leg out in front of a harmless toss, only to see the ball roll into the net via his block.

It was nothing particularly spellbinding, but is remarkably still his only Champions League final goal. Good thing it came in a win!

Another one from the 2022 miracle Champions League run. Although Rodrygo claimed the plaudits for his brace in second-half stoppage-time to save the tie, it was Benzema's singular defining moment that sent Los Blancos to the final.

Three minutes into extra time, the Frenchman burst into the box, and was tripped by a clumsy Ruben Dias. Benzema stepped up to take the ensuing spot-kick, ignored jibes from Ederson, and slotted the penalty home, sending Santiago Bernabeu into raptures.

The Frenchman was enduring a tricky calendar year when Madrid met Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semi-final in early April. Although Benzema had enjoyed an uptick in form, 2023 had been dominated by the odd knock and goalscoring troubles.

But against the eventual La Liga winners, Benzema turned it on. He scored three in the second half, including two in 10 minutes to bury Madrid's bitter rivals in the Copa del Rey — and set Madrid on course to their sole piece of major silverware in his final season at the club. That it came at Camp Nou only made the whole thing sweeter.

Madrid weren't entirely out of the game at half time of the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Paris Saint-Germain in March 2022. Although Los Blancos were trailing 2-0, the Parisians hadn't truly controlled the fixture. In effect, Los Blancos still had a chance.

And Benzema made sure of it. The striker scored his first goal after an hour, and added two more over the next 17 minutes, burying a team that included Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar. It would prove to be the start of one of the great Champions League runs.

Luka Modric broke the Messi-Ronaldo Ballon d'Or dominance in 2018, but that always felt slightly like an outlier. The Croatian had indeed been fantastic that year, but there was a prevailing sense that either Messi or Ronaldo would reclaim the award shortly after. And that proved to be the case, with Messi winning the next two.

But in 2022, neither the Argentine nor Portuguese had a shout. Benzema won the Ballon d'Or vote by the biggest margin in history, besting second-placed Sadio Mane by 356 points. And it was well deserved for a player that had quite simply been underrated for too long. Greatness officially achieved.