Just the four goals so far in his five games in the knockout stage of this Uefa Champions League. By recent standards, that counts as a dry spell for Karim Benzema.
This time a year ago, he was on 10 from five in the business end of club football’s most elite competition and he was football’s match-winner supreme.
Rewind 12 months and Benzema’s role as orchestrator-in-chief for a series of breathtaking Real Madrid comebacks was commandeering the votes that would have him crowned as winner of the Ballon d’Or.
He was the captain who lifted the European Cup last May, and in a sport where the English Premier League holds so many aces – including, in Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, the game’s finest young centre-forward – Benzema, the complete No 9, was again and again proving English football’s greatest nemesis.
At issue on Wednesday, as perhaps the strongest English club side of recent memory, a Manchester City with momentum, close in on a possible Treble, is whether Benzema can sustain that habit.
As he shakes hands with his opposite number ahead of kick-off at the fortress that is City’s Etihad Stadium, it is to their captain Madrid look first to swing the balance of a Champions League semi-final poised at 1-1.
But he is in his 36th year now. He had a relatively quiet night in the first leg in Madrid, second fiddle to a dashing Vinicius Junior. Injuries have disrupted his season, although to describe him as out of form would be to exaggerate. Benzema scored three hat-tricks in Spanish domestic football in April alone and will come into Wednesday having been rested at the weekend.
City would be inclined to regard a low-key Benzema as simply ominous when they recall how effectively he seizes his moments. He did that in the semi-final against them 12 months ago.
In the Etihad leg, Benzema’s volley began what would become a remarkable salvage operation with Madrid trailing 2-0. His penalty, impudently chipped past Ederson, made the final score in Manchester 4-3 in City’s favour.
“If we had that game from last year again, I’d take it,” smiled Pep Guardiola, City’s manager, on Tuesday. “But I don’t think it will happen. This competition is uncertain, there are things you can’t control. We have a plan and we’ll try to secure it, and adapt as much as possible.”
Real Madrid 1 Manchester City 1: Player ratings
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REAL MADRID RATINGS: Thibaut Courtois - 8. Produced three vital saves but was powerless to stop De Bruyne's stunning strike. A top performance from a top goalkeeper. Reuters -
Dani Carvajal - 6. Engaged in a feisty tussle with Grealish, and while the fullback battled hard to contain the City winger, Grealish carved out some good openings down his flank. EPA -
David Alaba - 7. Produced a superb goal-saving block on Haaland to preserve Real Madrid's lead and played his part in keeping the Norwegian striker quiet at the Bernabeu. Getty -
Antonio Rudiger - 8. A trademark Rudiger performance. Made himself a nuisance, timed his tackles superbly and alongside Alaba nullified the threat of Haaland. EPA -
Eduardo Camavinga - 9. Again deployed at left-back and again thrived in his new position. Excellent defensively to keep Silva quiet and created Vinicius' goal with a brilliant drive up the pitch. What a talent. Getty -
Federico Valverde - 7. Ran all night and played his part in an absorbing midfield battle. Showed great skill to skin Akanji but his cross was poor. EPA -
Toni Kroos - 6. An awful challenge on Gundogan rightly earned the German a booking and he was the least effective of Real Madrid's midfield three. EPA -
Luka Modric - 7. Silky first-time one-two with Camavinga launched the Real attack for the Vinicius goal and displayed his usual brilliant array of passing. EPA -
Vinicius Junior - 9. Scored one of the goals of the tournament with a thunderbolt into the top corner. Always looked dangerous when on the ball with his pace and trickery. AP -
Rodrygo - 6. After his starring role in the Copa del Rey final, it was a quieter performance from the Brazilian. EPA -
Karim Benzema - 6. Led the line well as usual but didn't pose much of a goal threat. His best chance came with a header which Ederson palmed away. EPA -
SUBS: Marco Asensio (Rodrygo 81') - N/A. Little time to make much of an impact. Getty -
Aurelien Tchouameni (Kroos 84') - N/A. Had a chance to restore Real's lead late on but his rasping effort was well saved by Ederson. Reuters -
Nacho (Modric 87') - N/A. Brought on to provide fresh defensive legs for the final few minutes. AP -
MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson - 8. Similar to his Real Madrid counterpart, produced several big saves but had no chance against Vinicius' wonderstrike. AFP -
Kyle Walker - 7. Had his hands full against the brilliant Vinicius but embraced the challenge, using his pace and strength against the Brazilian in a fascinating battle. AP -
Ruben Dias - 7. Rarely troubled defensively and kept Benzema largely quiet for most of the match. AFP -
Manuel Akanji - 7. The least convincing, defensively, of the City backline but linked up well with Grealish down the left side. Reuters -
John Stones -7. Another solid showing in defensive midfield from Stones, who partnered effectively with Rodri to help City control the midfield. PA -
Rodri - 8. Superb display from the Spaniard. Ran the midfield and won the ball back on the edge of the Madrid area to start the move for De Bruyne's equaliser. Getty -
Bernardo Silva - 6. Always provided an outlet on the right flank and produced his usual exquisite touches, but found it tough against the exceptional Camavinga. Getty -
Kevin de Bruyne - 9. Had a great chance to score but his close-range effort was blocked by Courtois. Made no mistake from the edge of the box, though, as the Belgian fired in City's equaliser. Perhaps didn't command the game as he usually does but it didn't matter as his goal hands City the advantage in the second leg. Getty -
Ilkay Gundogan - 8. Heavily involved and took plenty of punishment, it was the German's smart hold-up play and layoff which assisted De Bruyne's goal. Reuters -
Jack Grealish - 7. Clearly enjoyed his battle with Carvajal and generally got the better off the fullback. AFP -
Erling Haaland - 5. Much of the build-up focused on City's record-breaking striker but he was kept quiet by Madrid's defenders. Would be no surprise if he has a bigger impact in the second leg. AFP
Guardiola’s dread is a second leg that veers out of City’s control like last May’s semi-final did at its tail-end. Benzema’s volleyed cross, converted by Rodrygo, launched a comeback from 5-3 down on aggregate in the last minute of normal time. In extra-time a penalty from Benzema completed the astonishing turnaround for a 6-5 aggregate win.
The Madrid captain’s aura had won that penalty, an anxious Ruben Dias tripping Benzema.
It was the flourishing conclusion to a record-breaking spurt from the Frenchman. A hat-trick at Stamford Bridge in the previous round had put Madrid in charge of their quarter-final. Being Madrid, there was still drama left in that tie, Chelsea erasing the lead. The comeback would be completed, inevitably, by Benzema, in extra-time.
When Madrid were obliged to play Liverpool in the last-16 phase of their defence of their Champions League title, he picked up again his pattern of punishing English sides. Benzema struck a brace of goals at Anfield, and the only goal of the home, second leg. He scored the first Madrid goal in the 4-0 aggregate win against Chelsea in this season’s quarter-final. That’s 20 of his career Champions League goals against English clubs; only Lionel Messi has amassed more facing Premier League defences.
Guardiola has urged his players to ignore that back catalogue, be immune to the aura of Madrid and their serial European champions, the five-time winners of the competition like Benzema and Luka Modric.
“Anything in the past doesn’t exist,” Guardiola said on Tuesday. “I say to the players: live it, enjoy the moment. Don’t worry about the past, perform with the best you have. Be ourselves, don’t complicate things, relax.”
Specifically, he has instructed his players, four wins away from achieving a Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League Treble, that “we have to be better than at the Bernabeu.”
It means better exploiting Haaland’s potency, the Norwegian tightly marked in Madrid. “We need to adjust a little bit,” said Guardiola, “be more fluent and create more chances for our strikers, get more balls in easy positions.
“It’s not necessary to tell them how good Madrid are,” Guardiola added. “They felt it last season and this season. We know their transitions, their quality. It’s impossible to pick out a defect in the opposition, but we’ve worked on a few things.”
