Real Madrid 2 Frankfurt 0: Karim Benzema overtakes club legend to make history in the UEFA Super Cup final against Eintracht tonight.
As Real Madrid easily defeated Eintracht Frankfurt to win the UEFA Super Cup, Karim Benzema surpassed the legendary Raul to become the club’s second-most prolific scorer of all time.
The 34-year-old began the 2022–23 campaign the same way he ended the previous one: by scoring a goal.
Real Madrid won in Helsinki thanks to Benzema’s soft strike from the outskirts of the box that somehow eluded Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
The Frenchman moved one ahead of Raul in the all-time scoring charts with his 324th goal for the club.
However, he is still 126 goals short of Cristiano Ronaldo’s amazing 450 goals for Spain.
Furthermore, it would be difficult for Benzema to surpass his old friend CR7 in Real’s goal scoring rankings at the age of 34.
The Carlo Ancelotti team controlled the whole match against the German opposition in Helsinki, but the score remained tied until the 37th minute.
Casemiro nodded the ball across the goal after Frankfurt failed to deal with a corner, providing David Alaba with the easiest of tasks to poke the ball home.
Vinicius Jr. was an energetic player the entire time, and the 22-year-old had 17 minutes to score the game’s first goal.
Benzema set the ball up for him, and his 12-yard shot beat Trapp but not Tuta’s outstretched leg as he cleared the line.
However, when Brazilian superstar Vinicius Jr. set up Benzema for the second goal with 25 minutes remaining, he didn’t make that error.
The winner of the Champions League championship game took possession of the ball on the left, cut inside, and threw it to Benzema.
The remaining work was completed by Benzema, whose initial shot beat Trapp and went in the goal.
The Frankfurt goalkeeper will feel that he should have performed better, but for Benzema, they all matter equally.
After surpassing Raul’s goal total, he wheeled off in celebration, which will help his case for the Ballon d’Or later this year.
From there, Ancelotti and company finished the game in typically expert fashion.
The Italian succeeded in making history by being the first manager to ever win the UEFA Super Cup FOUR times.
Real’s triumph at Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium also tied them for the most UEFA Super League victories with Barcelona and AC Milan.
The meeting between the Champions League and Europa League champions has been won by all three teams five times.
