Carlo Ancelotti has praised striker Karim Benzema after the Frenchman helped Real Madrid secure a much needed win over Barcelona in the latest El Clasico. Madrid came into the match trailing behind table leaders Barcelona by four points, which was always going to be huge advantage in Spain. They needed a victory in order to keep their title hopes alive. The prospect of an El Clasico victory looked highly unlikely in the opening exchanges after Neymar gave Barcelona a very early advantage. However, three goals in response from Madrid helped them move one point behind Barcelona.
Karim Benzema was one of the scorers on the night, as he helped the club overcome the absence of Gareth Bale who was missing due to injury. Benzema may have scored only four league goals this season, but manager Carlo Ancelotti praised his performance by saying that he is on top form. Cristiano Ronaldo, who has also been an impressive scoring form this season, managed to get one from the spot. He has now taken his league tally to 16 goals, which is a huge distance ahead of Neymar’s nine in the league this season. Madrid also became the first team to score past Barcelona this season.
“I value the effort of the team. We didn’t lose our heads after Neymar’s goal and all went well. Isco’s performance was impressive but today we could talk about Benzema, Isco, Cristiano or James [Rodriguez]. It’s hard to talk about a star in this match but Benzema is on fire. The victory is important as we defeated a great team and achieved our objective of getting closer to Barcelona in La Liga. It’s not easy to play Barcelona. We fought so hard and the match was so lose,” said Ancelotti. The club had come into the encounter on the back of a 3-0 win over Liverpool in the Champions League.