Benzema is Guardiola’s Black Beast: he caught Lewandowski and threatened Cristiano Ronaldo’s record

Real Madrid’s path to the second round of the Champions League seems like a loop movie, leading to a new final where they will find their Orejona number 14. Suffer, run from behind, overcome global results and celebrate. And in all the pictures of the series against PSG, Chelsea and this Wednesday’s close against Manchester City he appears: Karim Benzema.

is black beast by Pep Guardiola, the one already broke the idyll that the Catalan coach has every time he visits the Santiago Bernabeu. Perhaps as a premonition, Ultra Sur fans received the team with a giant rag with the image of the French striker.

The Spanish coach lost only once at the white coliseum as coach, when he led Bayern Munich to the first leg of the 2013/14 Champions League semi-finals, and the story was maintained for up to 92 minutes.

But Benzema, as in all important moments of this edition of the Champions League in which he is the main figure, first appeared to come down with ballet jump the ball for Rodrygo’s first goal and, later, in the same coldness he had already shown in Manchester chop a basic maximum penalty.

The penalty that gave Real Madrid 3-1 was goal number 15 to the current Champions, but the tenth in the direct elimination instance. The record in one edition was held by Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, who was 17, in 2013/14. Will he make it to the final in Paris on May 28?

Benzema reached his goal on Wednesday in Madrid was Pole Robert Lewandowski, as he reached 86 in its entire history in the highest European club tournament, on a podium also led by Ronaldo (140), followed by the Argentine star Lionel Messi (125).

Finally, there are numbers this season of Cats: 43 goals in 42 fights (26 in the Spanish League). Raúl was a little behind him (323), the second all-time top scorer for Merengue (Cristiano Ronaldo, 450).

A Ballon d’Or season, which he will try to finish in Paris …