the great return of Karim Benzema

Highly criticized by Al-Ittihad supporters and Saudi Pro League followers since his arrival last season, Karim Benzema was eagerly awaited for this 2024-2025 financial year. It must be said that the Frenchman has a very important place within his club. It was following disagreements with his coaches that management decided to part ways first with Nuno Esperito Santo then with Marcelo Gallardo. This summer, the former Real Madrid striker strongly contributed to the arrival of Laurent Blanc on the bench but also to that of Houssem Aouar and Moussa Diaby. Enough to put a lot more pressure on him and be turned on by the Saudi press at the slightest poor performance. These are his ideas and his dispositions (editor’s note: the recruits and the coach). He must take responsibility for his work. But do we want to build a team for the entity or just a group? He chose when there was a coach who arrived at the start of the season, namely Stefano Pioli (editor’s note: he signed for Al-Nassr) and he was rejected because of Benzema, because he had other convictions and they were taken into account. The leaders listened to him and other names were brought forward based on his choices,” said Hamad Al-Sanaa, former leader of Al-Ittihad a few days ago.

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But for the moment, Karim Benzema is doing very well. If he was criticized a few weeks ago after his team’s defeat against the giant Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League Classic, the 2022 Golden Ball has been walking on water since the start of the season. He is one of the great architects of his team’s first place in the standings (while waiting for the match against Al-Hilal, still undefeated). This Thursday, against Al-Okhdood, captain Benzema once again saved Laurent Blanc from a poor performance. Author of the opener (Houssem Aouar scored the second goal), the 36-year-old striker is in Olympic form with 7 goals and 1 assist in 6 league matches.

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SPL: Al-Ittihad continues thanks to Benzema and Aouar

Benzema scores goals

Enough to logically be elected man of the match. Obviously after the meeting, Laurent Blanc was keen to salute the performance of his player while pointing out the generosity of his team which was once again saved by the talent of Benzema. “It was a difficult match, I think the mentality of my team was excellent, but technically it was not at the desired level. My players told me it was hard to play on that pitch. But I believe we are capable of winning championships because we believe in our players and trust them. We have big names like Karim Benzema who was very good again today and we need complete harmony in the team. The top scorer in the Saudi Pro League will appreciate this statement from his coach.

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Proof of his current good form, by finding the net against Al-Okhdood, Karim Benzema has scored at least one goal in his last 5 matches. He thus equalized the best series of his footballing career (he had achieved the same feat with Real Madrid). Hailed by the Saudi press who speak of a savior in a team that is still very limited, Karim Benzema is enjoying his return to form. After resisting numerous criticisms, the Frenchman confirms that he has the talent to play in the Saudi Pro League. And after this Thursday’s victory, he expressed himself with a short Instagram story of which he has the secret “Fire”he wrote on a photo with Moussa Diaby and his teammates. From now on, the objective is to continue in the hope of bringing down the giant Al-Hilal who never loses.