the forward was the star against Leganes on Wednesday, with the manager lauding his overall contribution
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Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane commended an inspirational display from Karim Benzema in Wednesday’s 5-0 thrashing of Leganes, highlighting how the forward offers much more than just goals.
Benzema has enjoyed a fine start to the season, picking up where he left off last term and he took his tally to seven goals in La Liga against Leganes.
But that goal – a second-half penalty – was only part of the story, as the Frenchman set up Rodrygo Goes and then Toni Kroos in the first eight minutes to help kickstart the Real Madrid rout.
As such, he moved on to 10 goal involvements for the season, more than any other player in LaLiga and Zidane was unsurprisingly delighted.
“Karim as always, doesn’t change much,” Zidane told reporters. “It’s important that he scores because he needs that as the number nine of Madrid.
“But he contributes much more than goals and does better for others. I am happy with his performance.”
Zidane added: “We scored two goals in 10 minutes, and then it was an easier and more normal match.
“In every game you have to suffer and we suffered at some point. [I’m] happy because, in the end, we added because we scored five goals and conceded none”
Luka Jovic rounded off the scoring late on with his first goal for the club in 10 matches, heading in from Dani Carvajal’s cross.
Zidane was pleased for him after a difficult start to life at the Santiago Bernabeu, while he also applauded Rodrygo’s improvement.
“The truth is I am happy for both of them,” Zidane added. “Rodrygo has personality and is getting better in the team.
“And Luka is happy because he needed that [goal] and, although he does not play much, it’s important [to make an impact] when he has minutes replacing Karim.”
Real Madrid are set to face Real Betis on Saturday as they currently sit one point behind Barcelona in La Liga.
After that, they’ll take on Galatasaray at home in their next Champions League group stage clash.