When Jose Mourinho referred to Karim Benzema as a ‘cat’ he was being disparaging.
‘When I don’t have my dog, I will have to go hunting with my cat,’ was his slightly odd parable on the contrasting merits of his two strikers at the time – Gonzalo Higuain and the Frenchman. The gist of his barb was that Benzema was a bit of a pussy cat.
Maybe ‘cat’ wasn’t too far off. The cat with nine lives.
Karim Benzema celebrates after scoring Real Madrid’s second goal against Bayern Munich
Benzema’s second equaliser sent Real Madrid into the Champions League final yet again
Another season draws to its conclusion with huge doubts over Benzema’s future and yet there he was on Tuesday night still in the first team and still scoring important goals in the Champions League for Real Madrid.
Even Gary Lineker joined Benzema’s band of critics this season. In fairness to Lineker, all he said was: ‘Is it me or is Benzema not a tad over-rated’.
The word ‘tad’ was maybe lost in translation and Benzema and his defenders at Real Madrid were more than a little insulted.
And that’s one of the things about Benzema – he has his defenders at Real Madrid. Principally, Cristiano Ronaldo who would always choose him if he was able to pick his strike partner.
No one vacates space quite as intelligently as Benzema, pulling defenders out of position and creating holes that Ronaldo can run into.
Ronaldo knows he would not score as many goals with another strike partner. Robert Lewandowski for example would not be as unselfish.
Cristiano Ronaldo and manager Zinedine Zidane are among Benzema’s biggest supporters
Zinedine Zidane is another of his protectors. ‘I’m pleased for Karim, he deserves it,’ he said on Tuesday night after his brace helped knock out Bayern Munich. There is a bond between the two former French internationals.
Florentino Perez, the Real Madrid president, is perhaps his most important sponsor. Benzema would have been sold seasons ago under a different regime. As it is he is hanging on into his ninth season at the club and could soon be holding a fourth Champions League medal.
The goals on Tuesday night were both gifts – a free header from Marcelo’s perfect cross. And then Sven Ulreich’s blooper right into the Frenchman’s lap.
You might say: ‘Even Benzema couldn’t miss that…’. But that would be unfair on a player who is sixth in the all-time Champions League top scorers with 55 goals in 103 games and only has Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Raul, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Andriy Shevchenko ahead of him.
Benzema also won back possession seven times and outshone Ronaldo who was almost as quiet on the night as he had been in the first leg.
He was in the team in the Cardiff final, he was in the team in the Milan final, and he was in the team in Lisbon. Will he be in the team in Kiev?
You wouldn’t bet against it. With Isco’s shoulder injury looking like hampering his run-up to the World Cup, Benzema is the man who offers Madrid that pause on the ball they don’t get from other players.
There are many of the club’s supporters who think he offers too much ‘pause’ and not enough ‘play’ and that he should still be got rid of at the end of the season, but who will back his sale if he joins that elite group with four European Cups?
He has had an extraordinary Madrid career since they bought him from Lyon once Sir Alex Ferguson had pulled out of the race to sign him unconvinced by the €40million asking fee.
He scored just eight league goals in 27 games in his first season. There were awkward interviews as he stumbled his way through media engagements with beginners Spanish, and there were embarrassing images of his yellow Lamborghini being towed away with its front wing stoved in, not once but twice. He also hit a tree driving home from his first ever Clasico.
‘Karim has never stopped working,’ said Zidane after the Bayern triumph. He has been called lazy before but you don’t get to survive for so long at a club like Real Madrid without doing something right.
If Gareth Bale wants to tough it out beyond the end of this season then Benzema is a decent role model. It’s true he doesn’t enjoy the same support from Zidane – completely the opposite. But Benzema survived Mourinho and the pussy cat jibes.
His nine lives still aren’t all used up just yet.