Do you know why Karim Benzema played in recent years with a bandage on his hand? His finger was broken and he refused to undergo an operation that would cause him to be out of action for too long. Without the bandage, the finger is completely crooked.
It is doubtful that he will ever be able to return her to normal – even if he undergoes surgery. It’s a story that embodies everything that made Benzema so special. A superstar who sacrificed his status, his goals, his goals, his body for Real Madrid.
He is a historical player who, after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, became the most important player of the team.
In total he:
- played 14 seasons in Real Madrid
- 647 games in which he scored 353 goals (4th place all time in La Liga, 4th place all time in the Champions League)
- scored 165
- won 5 European Championship titles
- 5 Club World Championship titles
- 4 times in the league
- 4 times in the European Supercup
- 3 times in the Spanish Cup
- twice in the Spanish Supercup
- once in the UEFA Player of the Year and once in the Ballon d’Or
Benzema came to Real Madrid from Lyon in 2009 as a child prodigy. He leaves as a legend.
In between there were few who worked as hard as him on and off the field. About nine years ago he started working with the personal trainer Xavier Atalia.
The training with him is done when Benzema wears a special suit that sends electrical stimuli to 90% of the muscles in the body and an hour of training with it is equivalent to 10 hours of normal training.
He does these trainings at least twice a week. Even in weeks of two games. It’s not just that he’s strong like an ox, he works like a donkey.
Benzema, like Cristiano Ronaldo or LeBron James, is obsessed with his body and invests hundreds of thousands of euros a year in it. He has a private chef, his life revolved around the game.
In Lyon they called him ‘encyclopedia of football’ and he spends long hours watching football. He even has an obsession with football trivia.
Teammates who spent time with Benzema’s at the academy in Lyon, confirms: “He would get up in the morning and think about football, brush his teeth and think about football, eat and think about football.
After training he would sit down and watch football. He would play football on the PlayStation. Everything for him is football”.
Benzema move to al ittihad (source: Imago)
According to reports, Real Madrid’s young stars – Vinicius Jr., Fede Valverde and Rodrigo – have learned a lot from him about investing in training and their bodies. In this sense, he leaves a “living” legacy at the club. However, his departure will also leave Real Madrid in a kind of search for a new identity.
“Real Madrid wants to thank and show love to a player who is one of the legends of the club” they said in the Spanish club on the day Benzema gave his goodbye announcement. “His career was a wonderful example of behavior and professionalism. He represented our values in an honorable way. He earned the right to decide his future. Real Madrid will always be a home for him.”
Real Madrid are left with many open questions after Benzema’s departure.
In recent years, Benzema has played without having a substitute. Real Madrid’s success depended, in many ways, on his ability to stay healthy. And at the age of 35, this is already a particularly difficult and abrasive task.
How exactly will Real Madrid embark on a new path? Which striker is now available on the market and can be transferred at a reasonable price?
What will happen to Benzema?
He is leaving for Saudi Arabia, where he will play for Al-Ittihad for a sum of around 400 million euros for two years (according to reports). The Saudis continue their image-whitening project with the image of the top footballers of the past decades. And let there be no doubt – Benzema is one of the greatest players in recent decades.
