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LONDON — If this is not the best forward in the world, please show us the player who is superior to Karim Benzema. What a treat that would be; it must be a remarkable player indeed who is capable of bettering the performance Real Madrid’s talisman just delivered to scythe through a defense so famed for its obduracy on nights like Wednesday night.
What separates the best from the merely great is their ability to repeat their brilliance. No one is as reliably consistent as Benzema on the biggest stage. There are plenty of strong contenders for the individual crowns that will come at the season’s end, but what they have to argue against is remarkable. Two hat tricks on the biggest stage that may have irrevocably turned the ties in Madrid’s favor. First against Paris Saint-Germain, the Harlem Globetrotters of the Champions League, and then the competition’s reigning champions Chelsea. No one is shining brighter amid the galaxy of talent.
Similarly, it is hard to imagine how this Madrid team might hope to contend for the Champions League without Benzema. That is not to say that they were without quality on the night: Thibaut Courtois was obdurate amid a hailstorm of abuse from his former supporters, Federico Valverde an all-action presence down the right and the old handers of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos were able to strangle the game when needed. That would have been enough to keep them in the game against a Chelsea side who, Kai Havertz aside, deeply underwhelmed. But it was Benzema who elevated Carlo Ancelotti’s side to a level that their opponents could not reach.
Certainly this is the best version of him that Ancelotti, his coach when he the Frenchman had to subsume himself in service of Ronaldo, has seen. “Karim Benzema is getting better everyday just like wine,” said the Madrid boss. “He’s more of a leader, more and more important in this team and squad and I think that’s what makes the…
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Source : cbssports
