Benzema's backheel brilliance moves Real Madrid one game closer to La Liga glory

It takes a lot for a player to challenge Lionel Messi for the La Liga Player of the Year prize, particularly with Cristiano Ronaldo no longer calling Spain his home.

But if Real Madrid are able to maintain their lead at the top of the table through the final six matches of the season, then Karim Benzema would be right to feel hard done by if he is not at least close to the Argentine magician when it comes to selecting the league’s best player in 2019-20.

It is no exaggeration to say that without Benzema, Madrid would not be half a dozen matches away from a first league title since 2017.

Though their challenge has been built on the meanest defence anywhere in Europe’s top five leagues, that would all have been for nought were it not for Benzema’s interventions at the other end of the pitch.

With Eden Hazard almost chronically injured, Luka Jovic floundering and Gareth Bale seemingly disinterested, Benzema has been forced to carry Madrid’s new-look attack almost entirely on his own. It is telling that Sergio Ramos is the club’s second-highest goalscorer this season – contributions from those further up the pitch have just not been there.

Long regarded as Ronaldo’s facilitator in the Spanish capital, Benzema has stepped up markedly in terms of his goalscoring output since the Portuguese’s departure for Juventus.

He has 22 goals in all competitions this term to follow up a 30-goal campaign in 2018-19, with 17 of those strikes in the current season coming in La Liga.

It is that form, coupled with a myriad of failings at Barcelona, that has helped Madrid reach a position where they knew a win over bottom club Espanyol on Sunday evening would send them two points clear of the Blaugrana in the two-team battle for Spanish supremacy.

Whether it was the nerves that came with knowing they could not let Barca off the hook for their draw at Celta Vigo 24 hours previously or just fatigue from the gruelling post-lockdown schedule, but Madrid were not always at their best during the first half in Catalunya.

On more than one occasion early on Espanyol worked their way into the Madrid 18-yard box, but their forwards, and most notably China star Wu Lei, lacked composure in front of goal.

Composure is not something Benzema struggles with. Ice runs through the veins of the ex-Lyon man, and with the seconds running down on the opening 45 minutes, the coolest head in the Madrid line-up took centre stage.

Running away from goal as the ball was forced into the Espanyol penalty area, Benzema proceeded to take one touch before producing an outrageous backheel that flew through the legs of the chasing defender before he knew quite what had taken place in front of him.

The onrushing Casemiro, who had earlier almost caught out home goalkeeper Diego Lopez with a shot from the halfway line, could not miss from much closer range. Though the Brazil international’s name goes down on the scoresheet, there is no doubt that all the credit for the goal must go to Benzema for the assist.

Social media was soon awash with reaction, with many comparing the assist to a similar piece of skill from ex-Madrid midfielder Guti from back in 2010. On that occasion a fresh-faced Benzema was able to latch onto the ball to score against Deportivo La Coruna, and a decade on his own no-look pass was just as good.

“For me it was just football. I knew that Casemiro was behind me, but for me that was just normal football,” Benzema said of his contribution to the goal at the final whistle. If that was just normal football, then perhaps those of us who watch Madrid regularly have been doing his ability a disservice all this time.

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Benzema now has 10 assists in all competitions this season. Only Messi and Luis Suarez are able to match him when it comes to reaching double figures in goals and assists this term in La Liga.

After the break, Madrid battled to retain their lead, and, despite some minor scares, held out relatively comfortably to take a giant step towards the title.

Clashes with Getafe and Athletic Club await Zidane’s side over the next seven days in what will likely prove their toughest tests between now and the end of the campaign, but, after picking up five wins from five since football’s restart, they are unlikely to be fazed.

Just as Barcelona have long believed they will win every game thanks to Messi’s presence, so too now with Madrid and Benzema. He has been, and continues to be, that decisive.