Karim Benzema has scored 71 goals in the UEFA Champions League so far, tied with Real Madrid legend Raul Gonzalez and rose to fourth place among the top scorers.
The 33-year-old scored with Lyon in his UEFA Champions League debut, in a 2–1 group stage victory over Rosenborg on December 6, 2005, 13 days before his 18th birthday. He left France in 2009 and went to Madrid (Cristiano Ronaldo also joined Real Madrid in 2009). He has now met in the first division for 16 seasons in a row, as has Lionel Messi.
The Frenchman is not too far behind the mark of Robert Lewandowski (73 goals). The electrode is about nine months younger than Benzema. With six goals this season, the Real Madrid striker needs only one goal to equal his best this season. He scored seven times in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League season.
To date, Benzema has scored 53 Champions League matches, and his goals have contributed to 39 wins and 11 draws. There were also three defeats.
Benzema – Raul
Benzema and Raul played one season together in Madrid. The Frenchman scored nine goals in all competitions in the 2009-2010 season, and the Spaniard scored seven. Ral then moved to Schalke 04 in the summer of 2010 after scoring 66 goals in 132 Champions League matches with the club. Ronaldo broke that club record in 2015.
Benzema has scored 59 of 71 goals so far for Los Blancos. So he still has some plans if he wants to replace Raul as Real Madrid’s second-best goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League. However, he has won more Champions League titles with Real (four to three for Raراl) and at least has better odds. Raul scored exactly 0.5 goals per match, and Benzema’s score after 110 matches is 0.54 goals.
Top goalscorers in the UEFA Champions League (no qualification)
134 Cristiano Ronaldo (Burr, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus)
120 Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona)
73 Robert Lewandowski (Poland, Dortmund, Bavaria)
71 Raul Gonzalez (Spain, Real Madrid, Schalke 04)
71 Karim Benzema (France, Lyon, Real Madrid)
56 Ruud van Nistelrooy (NED, PSV, Manchester United, Real Madrid)
50 Thierry Henry (France, Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona)
Most UEFA Champions League Goals for a Team (No Qualification)
120 Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona)
105 Cristiano Ronaldo (Burr, Real Madrid)
66 Raul Gonzalez (Spain, Real Madrid)
59 Karim Benzema (France, Real Madrid)
55 Robert Lewandowski (Poland, Bavaria)
Season after season
Benzema and Lionel Messi are the only two players to score in 16 consecutive UEFA Champions League seasons. Ryan Giggs also scored in 16 seasons but the Manchester United player failed to score in consecutive seasons.
2005/06 1 (Leon)
2006/07 2 (Lyon)
2007/08 4 (Leon)
2008/09 5 (Lyon)
2009/10 1 (Real Madrid)
2010/11 6 (Real Madrid)
2011/12 6 (Real Madrid)
2012/13 5 (Real Madrid)
2013/14 5 (Real Madrid)
2014/15 6 (Real Madrid)
2015/16 4 (Real Madrid)
2016/17 5 (Real Madrid)
2017/18 5 (Real Madrid)
2018/19 4 (Real Madrid)
2019/20 5 (Real Madrid)
2020/21 6 (Real Madrid)
Goals after rounds
51 The group stage
11 Round of 16
3 Quarter-finals
5 The semi-finals
1 Conclusion
Triple packages
Real Madrid – Auxerre 4: 0 (08.12.2010)
Real Madrid-Malmo 8: 0 (09.12.2015)
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