Karim Benzema climbed into the top five of LaLiga’s all-time goalscorers on Thursday, scoring in Real Madrid’s match against Elche.
The strike took Benzema, 35, ahead of Madrid great Raul Gonzalez onto 229 LaLiga goals, after he passed another club legend, Alfredo di Stefano, last month.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
The only players to have scored more were Mexico’s Hugo Sanchez — who starred for Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano — with 234 goals, Athletic Club forward Telmo Zarra with 251, and Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, with 311 and 474 respectively.
Benzema joined Madrid from Lyon in 2009 and is now in his 14th season at the Santiago Bernabeu.
He has won five Champions Leagues in that time — in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022 — and four LaLiga titles, as well as two Copas del Rey, four Spanish Supercopas, four UEFA Super Cups and four Club World Cups.
Benzema adopted the mantle of Madrid’s main goal scorer when Cristiano Ronaldo left the club in 2018. He scored a career-best 27 LaLiga goals in the 2021-22 season as Madrid won the league, while grabbing 15 Champions League goals — 10 of them in the knockout phase — in comeback wins over Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City.
Those performances were rewarded with the 2022 Ballon d’Or, winning the coveted individual prize for the first time in October last year.
