Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from Real Madrid left a huge void in the team back in 2018. The team suffered on many accounts as losing a player who guaranteed 50 goals a season was always going to hurt. But eventually, the star striker Karim Benzema took the onus of filling the goals and cemented a legacy of his own in the royal white jersey of the Los Blancos.
Following Ronaldo's exit, Real Madrid suffered a horrific season in the aftermath but the return of Zinedine Zidane as the head coach and the combined brilliance of Karim Benzema along with the rest of the squad made Madrid a force to be reckoned with again. Madrid won the La Liga trophy in 2019-20 and narrowly missed retaining the title in the 2020-21. Karim Benzema's form peaked in the 2021-22 season when Real Madrid conquered La Liga again and also miraculously won the Champions League by scripting comebacks after comebacks. Benzema scored 50 goals that season and singlehandedly led the team to glory. This performance fetched him a Balon d'Or award.
Benzema's redemption began following CR7's exit from the club and reminiscing the moment the French national made an intriguing revelation regarding what went through his mind at that period.
“When Cristiano left, who had scored 50 goals, I said, Now it’s time to step up and that I was going to work for it because I have the talent, but now I have to have more ambition than before,” he told El Chiringuito.
"It’s normal, it’s normal (embracing added responsibility). Gareth Bale, €100m, it’s a lot, he was a good player too, it was normal. But this is fine with me.”
After delivering his standout season in 2021-23, Karim Benzema stayed in Madrid for only one more season before leaving for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad. Following a slow start to his new stint, Benzema has settled into the new club this season is second in the goal-scoring chart of the season behind none other than his former Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. Nevertheless, Al-Ittihad has maintained a decent lead at the top of the table and is expected to win the league title over Al-Nassr.