French striker Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick that led his team, Real Madrid, to a 6-0 victory over Valladolid, at home, on Sunday, to maintain his hopes of retaining the title, in the 27th stage of the Spanish Football League.
Benzema (35 years old), the best scorer for Real Madrid this season with 14 goals in “La Liga”, imposed himself as the star of the match, by scoring a hat-trick in 6 minutes and 30 seconds, in the third fastest “hat-trick” in the history of the Royal Club.
The French striker began his review with a header in the 29th minute, taking advantage of a mistake by Moroccan international defender Jawad Al-Yamiq, before adding the second with a shot from the edge of the area (32), and the third with an acrobatic back movement (36).
Rodrigo opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, before standing in front of his shot (62), so that the Brazilian returned and passed the fifth goal to Marco Asensio (73). Lucas Vasquez concluded the Madrid show (90 + 1) following a pass from Belgian substitute Eden Hazard, who replaced Benzema in the 65th minute.
“There’s not much left to talk regarding.”
“The team came out with a lot of conviction, with a lot of desire to win the game and play well in front of our fans,” Vazquez told the Dazon streaming network.
He continued, praising his colleague Benzema, “Karim is a great player and a world star. He has been here for 14 years and every year he scores goals… There is not much left to talk regarding. I am very happy for him and I enjoy (playing with him) in every match.”
And Benzema, who scored a hat-trick in the first half for the first time since joining the royal club, according to “Opta” statistics, is 3 goals behind the top scorer in Barcelona, Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, who led his team to a 4-0 victory over its host Elche on Saturday, raising his score in the lead. To 71 points compared to 59 for the rivals Madrid.
Real proved its strength at its stadium, “Santiago Bernabeu” this season, as it did not lose any of its 13 matches in the league, winning 9 and drawing in four.
Despite the six goals that hit his net, Valladolid was the most dangerous at the start of the match, by injuring the left post of Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois following a shot from the edge of the penalty area to his 33-year-old captain, Roque Mesa (10), before the right post stood this time in front of the guest scoring a goal. After a shot from Kiki Perez with his left foot (46).
Real renewed its victory over Elche, as it also won the first leg on December 30 last in the fifteenth stage, in a match in which Benzema also starred by scoring two winning goals.
Real won only its third victory in various competitions in its last seven matches, in exchange for two draws and two defeats.
Morale dose before El Clasico
Real coach Carlo Ancelotti made five changes compared to the last match before the international break (losing to Barcelona 1-2), most notably keeping Croatian Luka Modric and Uruguayan Federico Valverde on the bench.
Real is also preparing in the best possible way for the return match of the “Clasico” semi-final of the local cup once morest rivals Barcelona on Wednesday, which is a decisive confrontation for coach Ancelotti’s men following they had previously lost in the last three matches once morest the Catalan club, knowing that he seeks to compensate for his loss in the first leg 0-1 to reach Final.
Real also gained an additional dose of confidence before hosting Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals on the 12th of this month.
Valladolid is suffering outside its stronghold with the second worst offensive line in the league (20 goals), while its net has conceded 44 times, knowing that it has not won in “La Liga” since February 5, and that was once morest Real Sociedad 1-0. Since then, the team has suffered three defeats once morest a draw.
Valladolid, who ranks sixteenth with 28 points and is struggling to stay, has also won only once in its last seven matches ( once morest Espanyol 2-1 on March 5), once morest two draws and four defeats.
Killer target from Korea
Villarreal achieved its second consecutive victory at the expense of Real Sociedad 2-0, scored by Daniel Parejo (77 from a penalty kick) and Senegalese Nicholas Jackson (81), who was sent off following 10 minutes with the second card.
The “Yellow Submarine” team strengthened its sixth position with 44 points, while Sociedad became fourth with 48 points under the fire of Real Betis V, which trailed by 3 points, but it did not benefit from the loss of the Basque club, as it was defeated by its host Atletico Madrid with a fatal goal scored by it. Argentine substitute Angel Correa (86).
Atletico raised its tally in third place to 54 points, reinforcing its qualifying position for the Champions League next season, 9 points ahead of fifth Betis.
Celta Vigo drew 2-2 at home to Almeria.
Almeria, who suffered its 14th loss this season and is fighting in turn to stay in the first place, ranks eighteenth with 27 points.
The stage ends on Monday with Valencia’s meeting with Rayo Vallecano.
