Karim Benzema joins Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in accomplishing Champions League feat
Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has been on a roll in the Champions League and he recently set a record.
The Frenchman has 12 goals in the competition this season, including seven in the knockout stages.
In the process, he became just the fifth player in history to score at least seven times in the elimination rounds in a single campaign.
His remarkable tally includes a hat-trick against PSG, a hat-trick against Chelsea and then another goal against the Blues on Tuesday.
Such a scorching run of form has seen Benzema propel himself up in the race for the Champions League Golden Boot, trailing only Robert Lewandowski (13).
12 goals in the CL this season
⚽️ 12 goals in the CL this season
⚽️ 7 knockout stage goals
⚽️ 38 goals in 38 games for the season
Ladies and gentlemen, Karim Benzema 🤴 https://t.co/0udLheMIhN
But with Bayern Munich going out in the quarter-finals and no one else in sight, the path is clear for the Real Madrid ace to clinch the award.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Sadio Mane and Neymar are the only other players in history to have scored seven-plus knockout stage goals in a season.
Ronaldo is the only player to have done it more than once, with the Portuguese ace accomplishing the feat a staggering three times!
He struck seven goals in the knockout stages of the 2011-12 season, another eight in 2013-14 and an impressive 10 in 2016-17.
The only time Messi managed to score seven or more goals in the knockout rounds was in the 2011-12 season, when he fired 12, including five in a match against Bayer Leverkusen.
Neymar hit seven Champions League knockout stage goals en route to Barcelona's fifth title in the 2014-15 season before Mane did the same three years later.
Benzema driving Real Madrid's Champions League ambitions
Accounting for seven of their eight goals in the knockout stages, Benzema has been the driving force behind Real Madrid's Champions League surge.
He's fired on all cylinders this season but has shown his potential to step up to the plate and deliver when it matters the most.
KARIM BENZEMA https://t.co/jddWagviO3
Hat-tricks against PSG and Chelsea are no mean feat and the Frenchman has done so in consecutive games - a feat achieved only once before in the knockout rounds.
Against an irrepressible Manchester City, the Whites will need his services more than ever. Going by his recent form, he's all fired up and will take some stopping.