VIDEO: He played with the defence and sent the ball under the crossbar with an uncompromising shot. Is Karim Benzema returning to his old form?

Karim Benzema scored another beautiful goal in Tuesday’s game and thanks to his performance, Al Ittihad advanced to the quarterfinals of the Arab Cup. After his troubles at the start of the season, he is probably finally returning to great form.

After his early season troubles, Karim Benzema is back to his best

The Ballon d’Or winner and Real Madrid’s best striker was set to become one of the league’s biggest stars. However, he did not meet the local coach’s expectations in his new job and was also plagued by numerous injuries and controversies.

Karim Benzema came to Saudi Arabia as a hero to raise the level of football here. However, instead of the beautiful footballing moments he brought to the world in recent years, controversies were more likely to be dealt with even in his new position.

The French cannonballer has reportedly fallen out with the team’s coach, who is Portuguese strategist Nuno Espírito Santo. Then, two weeks ago, the French interior minister’s words that Benzema had links to a terrorist organisation hit the media, sparking a wave of radical reactions.

In recent games, however, he has shown that he has not forgotten how to play football. In the last ten games he has scored six goals and added three assists. In total, he has an impressive 9+4 in 14 games for Al Ittihad.

In the weekend’s Saudi Pro League match, he was man of the match after recording a goal and an assist. Unfortunately, even that wasn’t enough to win the game and Al Ittihad are only sixth in the league table.

In the cup competition, he scored a wonderful goal

Benzema also made his mark in Tuesday’s cup match at Al Feiha. His Moroccan strike partner Abderrazak Hamdallah opened the scoring, but then increased the lead with a second goal in the second half.

But it was Benzema who showed his world-class skills in injury time. He got to the ball in front of the penalty area, used his great control to get rid of three defenders and with a quick shot under the crossbar he completed his team’s 0:3 win.

The victory meant the team advanced to the quarterfinals of the Arab King Cup of Champions. Al Ittihad is thus still in contention to win the competition, which the team last dominated in 2018. The French cannonballer’s form will surely be crucial in the hunt for more than just this trophy.

Source: King Cup of Champions, Livesport, Twitter/X