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Manchester City will be quaking in their boots at the prospect of facing Karim Benzema again, here are three key reasons why
Manchester City host Real Madrid in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal hoping to banish the ghosts of last year and reach their second final in three years.
With a final against Inter on the horizon for the winner of this tie, this could be Manchester City’s best chance to secure the first UCL title in the club’s history, but in their way stands a mammoth of the competition who stopped them from reaching the final last season.
Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema has gained a recent reputation as the bogeyman of the UEFA Champions League for several reasons and will be a key worry for the Cityzens at the Etihad. Here are the top three.
Last year’s semifinal
In the clubs’ most recent meeting, Benzema was crucial to Real Madrid getting the better of Manchester City, as he scored three times over two legs to earn Los Blancos a place in the final.
His two goals at the Etihad in the 4-3 first-leg loss for Real Madrid kept them in the tie, while his cool and crucial penalty in extra time in the second leg sealed a 6-5 aggregate win to take Los Blancos to the promised land.
With those crucial goals against them still in the minds of the City players, they will certainly have to keep a special eye on the Frenchman to avoid a repeat of last year’s heroics.
Karim Benzema slayer of English teams
In recent years, Benzema has developed a taste for demolishing teams in England’s Premier League, and this season alone, he has already scored four times in four games against Manchester City’s compatriots.
The Frenchman scored three goals over two legs in the round of 16 against Liverpool and continued his scoring spree against Premier League teams by getting one goal against Chelsea in the quarterfinal as well.
Last season, the Real Madrid captain directly contributed to eight goals in five games against English opposition, scoring seven goals, including a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge, as Real Madrid conquered Europe for the 14th time.
In total, Benzema has scored 20 times against English opponents in the Champions League, with only Lionel Messi (27) scoring more than the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner.
Knockout stage specialist
Last season was special for Benzema as he scored 10 goals in the knockout stage of the Champions League to lead Real Madrid to glory with some breathtaking performances along the way.
It continued a trend of scoring important goals at the business end of the UCL season for Benzema and this season, he has scored all four of his goals in the knockout rounds to make him the player with the third most goals from the round of 16 onwards, with only Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi ahead of him.
Particularly in the semifinal stage, Benzema has scored eight goals in 17 games, making him the second-highest goalscorer in this stage of the UCL, with only Ronaldo (13) getting more goals than him.
Manchester City will be wary of Benzema extending this and other Champions League records when they face Real Madrid at the Etihad and they will no doubt be devising a special way to stop the Frenchman if one truly exists.
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