Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has made a strong Karim Benzema claim after the striker’s match-winning performance against Chelsea on Wednesday night.
The French forward scored a scintillating hat-trick against Thomas Tuchel’s Blues to give his side a 3-1 win in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie, and put the current trophy holders on the brink of elimination.
With this trio of strikes, Benzema has now scored six goals in his past two UCL games, having inspired a quickfire comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16 too.
Not only that, the striker has now scored 11 goals in the 2021/22 UCL campaign, more than any other Frenchman has managed in a single European Cup competition, surpassing Just Fontaine’s 10-goal haul in the 1958/59 season.
Following Benzema’s record-breaking effort, Ancelotti described the forward’s rise as similar to the way wine ages.
“We had a fantastic performance up front from Benzema,” the 62-year-old said after the match, per The Straits Times.
“He’s getting better every day, like wine.
“We played well. It was a good night.
“We have an advantage but we have a lot of respect for this team who were the winners of the last Champions League.”
In a post-match interview, Benzema shared his view on his impressive performance against the Blues.
“They’re magic nights,” the goal-getter explained.
“Today we came out to win, to show we’re Real Madrid.
“We played well from the first minute to the last.
“They’re very important goals.”