Champions League, Chelsea – Real Madrid: Karim Benzema, at the dawn of a record season… and another time?

It’s a season that can go down in history. And in more ways than one for Karim Benzema. Irresistible with Real Madrid, the former Lyonnais never ceases to panic the counters. As if the years had no hold on him. At 34, he is already guaranteed to sign his best statistical season in the merengue jersey. His double of the weekend allowed him to wipe out his 2011-12 exercise, which he finished with 32 units. Today, he has already scored 34 goals in all competitions… in 35 games. But this is only the beginning.

While Real Madrid is at the top of La Liga with its 12-point lead over Barça, Karim Benzema can further inflate his statistics during this exercise. While he has already become this year the top French scorer in history by exceeding Thierry Henry’s 413 units, “KB9” can achieve a historic performance in the Champions League. And it’s not necessarily linked to the fact that he is still in the running to add a fifth C1 to his formidable record.

More than a goal to establish the best mark for the Blues in C1

Author of 8 achievements in 7 matches of C1, the center-forward of the Blues can establish a new record of goals on an exercise in the most prestigious European competition for a French player. Today, he shares this mark with Kylian Mbappé, David Trezeguet and Wissam Ben Yedder. But he has two chances with this quarter-final against Chelsea, and maybe three more if Real go to the final, to improve him. And given his effectiveness this season, it’s probably only a matter of hours…

In the running to become the first Frenchman to win the Pichichi trophy in La Liga when he has a 10-goal lead over his runner-up, the former L1 top scorer can still aim a little wide. And go to heights that would allow him to make even more of a golden place in the history of French football.

Between 14 and 17 meetings to enter a circle from another time

With his 39 goals in all competitions between Real and the France team since the start of this 2021-2022 exercise, the native of Lyon could go and tickle marks that date from another time for French football. For this, it must manage to keep its explosive efficiency of course. And that his body leaves him alone to continue to accumulate matches. But if all goes well and especially if Real continues to shine in C1, he could follow in the footsteps of illustrious French scorers, who played in the last century.

The best French scorers over a season (club and selections combined, with @Statsdufoot):

• 1. Just Fontaine (1957-58) : 53 buts
• 2. Philippe Gondet (1965-66): 51 goals
• 3. Roger Courtois (1935-36): 49 goals
• 4. Stéphane Guivarc’h (1997-1998): 47 goals
• Jean-Pierre Papin (1991-1992): 47 goals
• 5. Kylian Mbappé (2020-2021) : 46 buts

To enter this Top 5, Benzema, “a player apart, a personality apart“according to Thomas Tuchel”impressed“by the Frenchman’s ability to”to assume their responsibilities“, potentially has eight La Liga matches, but also between two and five C1 matches and four meetings with the Blues in June for the Nations League. That is between 14 and 17 matches… For a boy who runs at 0.93 goals per game this season in all competitions bodes well for a statistically memorable exercise.