In Real Madrid’s 6-0 La Liga victory over Real Valladolid on Sunday, Karim Benzema scored a stunning hat trick in just seven minutes. Atletico Madrid and Villarreal also took part in the match.
Support Real Madrid, second, sits 12 focuses behind pioneers Barcelona after the Catalans beat Elche on Saturday, with 11 games staying each. As sixth-place Villarreal defeated fourth-place Real Sociedad 2-0 and fifth-place Betis was defeated 1-0 by Atletico Madrid, the race for the top four became more intense.
By defeating Valladolid, Madrid, led by Carlo Ancelotti, moved ahead of their Copa del Rey semi-final matchup with Barcelona, their arch-rivals, on Wednesday. Madrid finished 16th, one point above the drop zone.
Before Benzema’s hat trick:
Before Benzema’s hat trick, which included a spectacular acrobatic effort, Rodrygo Goes scored the first goal early on. Marco Asensio scored the fifth goal in the second half and Lucas Vazquez added another late on.
Vazquez stated to DAZN, “Karim is a spectacular player, a world-class star. He’s been here 14 years and scores goals every year.”
After being teed up by Asensio, Rodrigo scored the opening goal after 22 minutes, starting in a central attacking midfield position.
Benzema, Vinicius Junior’s strike partner, scored two goals with ease.
After 36 minutes, the French forward netted his 14th La Liga goal with an impressive overhead effort from inside the six-yard box to complete his hat trick.
The 35-year-old scored 17 goals to rank second in the division behind Robert Lewandowski of Barcelona. The coach was pleased with his forwards, and Ancelotti’s attacking line-up paid off. The mentor said he could begin Rodrygo against Barcelona at Camp Nou.
As a substitute for Benzema, Belgian winger Eden Hazard made his first league appearance since September as Madrid slowed down in the second half.
Hazard set up Lucas Vazquez to complete the rout in the final minute after Rodrygo set up Asensio to score from inside the area.
As Madrid sharpened their teeth, Vinicius was also given a rest before the Clasico match in the middle of the week. Los Blancos appear to be much more dangerous now than they did in March’s 1-0 first-leg defeat to Barcelona. Valladolid faces an intense battle against transfer.
“Any put-off liquefies us like a sugar solid shape,” said their mentor Pacheta.”We must be significantly stronger in attack, defense, transition, and everything else.”
Race for fourth
Early in the second half, the defenseman Jose Gimenez headed over the bar, Koke’s goal was disallowed due to offside, and Juanmi came close for Betis, who lost for the first time in seven league games.
Atletico took the lead with four minutes left when Correa scored after getting lucky twice on the edge of the box and skipping into space to finish well.
The Rojiblancos are five focuses behind Genuine Madrid and six focuses in front of Genuine Sociedad.
Nicholas Jackson, a substitute, scored the second goal but was later disqualified for two yellow cards.
Almeria finished 18th and beat Celta Vigo 2-2.