Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are almost certainly the two greatest players in the history of the Champions League – but Karim Benzema has achieved a feat they’ve never quite managed.
The two legendary forwards are clear ahead as the top two goalscorers – both overall and in the knockout stages – in Champions League history, but neither have ever scored in both legs of the quarter-finals and semi-finals in the same season.
Given his heroics in Real Madrid’s insanely dramatic run to the 2021-22 final, you might even argue that Benzema is enjoying the best-ever Champions League campaign by an individual.
But who are the three others that have scored in all four of the semis and quarters? Here’s the list in full.
Karim Benzema
King Karim has been quite simply extraordinary in 2021-22. He’s scored 43 goals – one more goal than Wolves this season, fact fans – and has been Real Madrid’s outstanding player by a country mile as they’ve wrapped up the La Liga title with weeks to spare and reached their first Champions League final since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Not only did he score all three goals as Madrid came back to beat PSG in the Round of 16, but he followed that up with another hat-trick against Chelsea – becoming only the fourth player to score successive three-goal hauls in the knockout stages.
Benzema then scored as Madrid rode out Chelsea’s comeback in the second leg of the quarters, before notching twice more against Manchester City in the first leg of the semis. He also dispatched the ultimately decisive penalty in extra-time of the semi-final second-leg.
With the penalty against City, Benzema also equalled Ronaldo’s record for the most goals in the knockout stages in a single season with 10. He still needs to score a hat-trick in the final against Liverpool to beat Ronaldo’s record for goals in a Champions League season – 17.
READ: 15 incredible stats as Real Madrid reach *17th* Champions League…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…