MY ACCOUNT
Carlo Ancelotti is as impressed by Karim Benzema’s leadership and personality as his outstanding goalscoring exploits after another dominant Champions League display.
Benzema became the fourth player in Champions League history to score a hat-trick in consecutive performances on Wednesday.
The France forward netted all three Real Madrid goals in their 3-1 win at Chelsea in the first leg of their quarter-final, having also hit a treble against Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16 second leg.
This was the first hat-trick against Chelsea in any European competition and moved Benzema to 11 goals for the campaign – the most by any Frenchman in the European Cup or Champions League in a single season.
Benzema has 37 goals across all competitions in 2021-22, but the two headers that gave Madrid a two-goal lead at Stamford Bridge have to count among his best.
Now 34, Benzema has never scored more in a season – 32 in 2011-12 was his previous best – but head coach Ancelotti sought to highlight how important he is to the team in other ways. The striker wore the captain’s armband in the absence of Marcelo on Wednesday.
“Karim improves every day like a fine wine,” said Ancelotti, who returned to the touchline after testing negative for coronavirus.
“He’s more and more of a leader in the team, in the group, and I think that’s the biggest difference. He shows his personality more, he knows that he is very important to us and he is an example for all.”
This was a fourth consecutive win in matches against reigning European champions for Madrid, but Ancelotti warned against complacency heading into the second leg in Spain.
“The team played very well, it was a very good performance. We were brave, we showed personality,” he said. “But we are only at half-time in the tie.
“We’ll want to have the same approach when we come back, but you never know how it’s going to go.
“Obviously, we have the advantage, but the tie is still open. Without the away goal rule, it’s an advantage for Chelsea.
“I think we played better than them on the night, but there is still one game and anything can happen.”
