The Frenchman missed a penalty but scored two as the Los Blancos defeated Celta 2-1 to get back to winning ways and extend their lead at the summit of the league standings to 12 points.
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Karim Benzema has been in prolific goal scoring form for Real Madrid this season, having netted a brace against Celta Vigo on Saturday to take his tally to 34 goals across all competitions for the 2021-22 season. The Frenchman missed a penalty but scored two as the Los Blancos defeated Celta 2-1 to get back to winning ways and extend their lead at the summit of the league standings to 12 points. Meanwhile, the 34-year-old’s double at Balaidos brought him up to 24th in the Spanish top-flight football this term.
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? @Benzema ? @LaLigaEN: 24
Spanish Super Cup: 2 @ChampionsLeague 8
? TOTAL: 34 GOALS ?#RealFootball pic.twitter.com/BMp3m90N7J— Real Madrid C.F. ???? (@realmadriden) April 3, 2022
The Frenchman’s previous best goal-scoring record for Madrid was in the 2011-12 campaign, when he found the back of the net 32 times over the entire season. Benzema put Los Blancos ahead from the spot in the 19th minute after Eder Militao was fouled by Nolito inside the box.
And then, the striker netted his second of the night on 69 minutes when Ferland Mendy stumbled over the leg of Kevin Vazquez and the referee pointed to the spot. Benzema stepped up and deposited the ball just inside the left post to make the score 2-1 and take all three points.
Benzema equaled Alfredo Di Stefano as Madrid’s third-highest scorer in the Spanish league with 216. He trails only Raul Gonzalez (228) and Cristiano Ronaldo (312).
Even during his time in France with Lyon his best tally over an entire campaign was 31, during the 2007-08 season. Benzema joined the Spanish giants in 2009 and since then went on to become one of the lethal strikers in world football. He has scored 30 or more goals in a single season five times in his stellar career and four of those were with Real Madrid.
With eight more league games remaining and at least two Champions League fixtures awaiting, the 34-year-old is highly likely to extend his goal-scoring record. Madrid will next take on Chelsea in the champions League quarter-finals first leg fixture in the mid-week and then will host Getafe on April 9th.
If Los Blancos can get the better of Chelsea in the two-legged fixture, Benzema could go on play even more games. The second leg fixture against the Blues will be at Santiago Bernabeu on April 12.
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