The Spanish league experienced a glorious time between two aliens guilty of breaking all possible goalscoring records: Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. After their respective departures, La Liga was left without a goal, until they appeared to reopen a new debate. Karim Benzema o Robert Lewandowski. At AS, we have spoken with some of the most legendary strikers who have played in Spain to find out their opinion about the debate.
The white ‘9’ is the captain, scorer and soul of Real Madrid. At this start of the campaign he has already scored four goals (three in the league and one in the European Super Cup) and after a memorable last season, he is the clear favorite to win the Ballon d’Or on October 17 in Paris. On the other side of the equation is Robert Lewandowski. By profession, scorer. The arrival of the Polish striker in Barcelona this summer has restored the illusion of Barcelona and without understanding adaptation processes, he already has eight goals in the League and three in the Champions League.
For Kiko Narvaeza former Atlético de Madrid player, where he played for eight seasons, “Karim and Robert are two unique strikers, but I like Benzema a few centimeters more because he seems more complete to me”. Along the same lines as ‘the archer’ is Diego Tristanlegend of Deportivo de la Coruña and winner of the Pichichi Trophy in 2002 with the sports team. “I am in love with Karim. The difference between the two is that the Frenchman is a team player, more complementary and can play in any of the three positions above”, comments the Andalusian striker, author of 178 goals in his sports career.
Being Benzema a ‘9’ with the soul of a ’10’, for Alfonso Perezthe French and the Polish “are different footballers and I think that Karim would be a good complement to Lewandowski, who is more of a finisher”. For the former Real Madrid, Betis or Barcelona player, “Karim is more valuable because he can contribute more things at the team level”. Different is the analysis of Luis Garciathe former footballer for Real Madrid, Mallorca and Espanyol, among others, explains that “Benzema dominates all the registers to perfection: It is always associated with success, it falls to the wings, it creates play and on top of that it contributes assists and goals”.
For his part, the former Navarrese player who played for much of his career at Athletic Club, Ismael Urzaizconfess that “They are two world-class strikers and I would like to see them share a team”, while Save Crossbowwinner of the Pichichi with Racing de Santander in the 1999-2000 season adds that “Together with Haaland, they are the two best strikers in the world.”
Karim’s last season was memorable, being one of the main factors behind Real Madrid’s success in lifting the League and the Champions League, with 27 goals in national competition and 15 in Europe. “He was the most decisive player to win titles and he always appeared at the right moments”, affirms the former Rayo Vallecano and Espanyol footballer, Raul Tamudo. same opinion as Mrsince the footballer who played for Deportivo de la Coruña or Valencia assures that “The high performance he gave last year makes me opt for him”. Also, Ivan Sanchez ‘Riki’the footballer who passed through the ranks of Getafe or Granada, does not hesitate to affirm that “Karim is the big favorite to win the Ballon d’Or.”
But the debate between Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski transcends beyond our borders, and from Italy, Antonio Di Natale, has also attended AS to give his opinion. “They are very different players, obviously both exceptional. Benzema is very complete: he scores a lot of goals, but he moves a lot throughout the offensive sector, he plays more for the team,…For this reason, in a group of mine if we talk about a pure nine, from the area, I think I would sign Lewandowski, ” concludes the former Italian soccer player who participated with the ‘azzurra’ in two European Championships (2008 and 2012) and a World Cup (2010).
