Real Madrid 6-0 Valladolid: Benzema’s Seven-Minute Hat-Trick Helps Madrid remain in title hunt
Real Madrid thrashed 16th-placed Real Valladolid 6-0 in their La Liga match with the help of a stunning first half and a seven-minute hat-trick by Karim Benzema.
Barcelona on the other hand also found a big win with 4-0 against Elche as Lewandowski found the back of the net twice.
Real Madrid are still at the second position in Spain and 12 points behind league leaders FC Barcelona, but the win was a massive boost for the teams ahead of the El Classico 2nd leg of the Copa Del Rey semi-final.
Benzema scores 7-minute hattrick
Madrid had won just five of their last 10 league matches, which has seen them concede a massive advantage to their great rivals FC Barcelona. However, a big win against Valladolid was a great momentum builder for Madrid on the semi-final clash against Barcelona. Madrid had failed to trouble Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the 1-0 first-leg defeat in March but the Los Blancos look far more dangerous now.
Rodrygo opened the scoring early on for Madrid with an assist from Asensio. Later, Vinicius’s cross allowed Benzema to net the second after 29 minutes, and four minutes later, the Brazilian fed his French strike partner again and the forward curled home from the edge of the box.
Benzema completed his hat-trick after 36 minutes when Rodrygo crossed and he pulled off an impressive overhead effort from inside the six-yard box for his 14th goal of the season in La Liga.
Marco Asensio scored the fifth in the second half and Lucas Vazquez added another late on. Rodrygo scored another goal but was ruled out for handball by Vinicius Junior.
Benzema’s Flashy Hattrick
Benzema overtook Getafe’s Enes Unal to become the division’s second top goalscorer, behind Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski on 17.
The 35-year-old sealed his first-ever first-half hat-trick for Real Madrid in fantastic style, with the most eye-catching of all being an acrobatic overhead kick for his third goal which saw him convert Rodrygo Goes’ cutback from the byline.
With six minutes and 30 seconds between his first and his third goal, Benzema became the third-fastest scorer of a hat-trick in LaLiga for Real Madrid in history, following Fernando Hierro’s 1992 effort against Espanyol and Pahiño’s treble against Nástic which took just four minutes in 1950. It was also the first first-half hat-trick to be completed by a Real Madrid player in the competition since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2015 against Espanyol. Benzema joined CR7, Ruud Van Nistelrooy (2006, against Osasuna), and Iván Zamorano (1995, against Barcelona) in achieving the feat.
Eden Hazard Gets Game Time
Eden Hazard has struggled for form and fitness throughout his time at Real Madrid and made his first outing in the Spanish top flight since making an even rarer start against Real Mallorca on September 11, 2022. Carlo Ancelotti introduced him off the bench in a meeting with Real Valladolid – replacing hat-trick hero Karim Benzema.
He created four chances and capped his display with an assist as Lucas Vazquez added the cherry on the cake in Madrid’s 6-0 rout.
Hazard has registered just seven goals for Real through the best part of four seasons, with much more expected of him following a move from Chelsea in 2019 that saw him arrive in the Spanish capital as one of the most devastating wide attackers in world football.
