April 11, (THEWILL) – Carlo Ancelotti, the head coach of Real Madrid, believes the club should not be ashamed of its reliance on star, Karim Benzema, while fielding questions ahead of their reverse UEFA Champions League quarter-finals fixture against defending champions Chelsea.
The French forward has helped Madrid secure top spot in their strive to regain the La Liga title. They presently are in the summit of the standings by 12 points above Barcelona, who have played one game fewer.
With a hat-trick against Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at Stamford Bridge, the former Lyon striker gave the La Liga giants a huge advantage heading into the second leg.
Following his heroics in the last 16 against Paris Saint-Germain, he not only became the first player to score a treble against the Blues in European competition, but joined Cristiano Ronaldo, Luiz Adriano, and Lionel Messi as the fourth player to record consecutive hat-tricks in the Champions League.
Only Robert Lewandowski’s 46 goals for Bayern Munich this season have bettered Benzema’s goal-scoring in Europe’s top leagues, with the Frenchman’s 37 goals in 37 outings.
In response to inquiries about whether Benzema’s exploits will deter potential transfer target Erling Haaland, Ancelotti lavished praise on his star attacker.
“What a question… I’m sorry, I can’t answer,” he said. “But I can say that Benzema is a modern centre-forward, in the past the number nine would get into the area and finish off whatever was going on there.
“Karim is what modern football demands in a striker, shooting, playing, defensive work, not giving away balls… It’s the perfect representation of what a centre forward should be today.”
Benzema and Vinicius Junior have created a fearsome partnership in the Champions League this season, combining for a competition-high five goals. Ancelotti pointed to his new pairing as the stars of Real’s season, while alluding to their matching the excellence of the likes of Los Blancos legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
“The season says that there are two strikers who have stood out a lot, Vinicius and Benzema,” he added.
“In the past we had Cristiano, Bale… To say that we are dependent on Benzema is the truth, there is no need to hide it. I am very happy to be dependent on Benzema.”
This season, Benzema has 11 goals in the Champions League, the most by a Frenchman in Europe’s top club competition and more than he had in the previous two editions combined.
Ancelotti will try to add to that total against Chelsea at home on Tuesday, as he attempts to reach his eighth Champions League semi-final, which he shares with Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola as the joint-most of any coach in history.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
