Karim Benzema Comes Up With Perfect Finish From 'Half Chance'

Karim Benzema proved once again to be the man for the tough occasions for Real Madrid, as he dragged them back into the Champions League semi final against Manchester City.

The Premier League champions were not messing about on Tuesday night as they came flying out of the traps and Kevin de Bruyne headed them in just the second minute of the game.

City doubled their lead in the 11th minute through Gabriel Jesus, before Real had been able to get a footing in the game, and the tie already looked to be getting away from them.

The visitors could, and probably should, have been 3-0 down but Riyad Mahrez decided to shoot instead of square it for Phil Foden, who would have had an easy chance.

That opportunity might have ended the tie but instead it was Los Blancos who scored the next goal, with Benzema once again digging his side out of trouble.

Mendy cross the ball from deep into the area and Benzema got on the end of it, making what would have been a half chance for many strikers into a brilliant finish.

The goal took the 34-year-old to 13 goals in the tournament so far this season, and level with Robert Lewandowski on the same amount but with Bayern Munich already out.

What made the goal even more impressive was that it came just 14 minutes after the day's fasting for Ramadan had ended.

It was also his 40th goal in 41 appearances for the season, coming in his 600th game for the club, and meant he was the first player to score 40 goals in a season for the club since Cristiano Ronaldo.

The football idiom 'who else' was pretty much made for the goal, considering the Frenchman has been so instrumental in getting Real into the final four of the Champions League.

His hat-trick in 17 minutes in the second half of the second leg of the last 16 completed a comeback against PSG from 2-0 down in the tie, when all looked lost.

In the quarter finals he scored another hat-trick in the first leg against Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge, but his goal in Madrid was even more instrumental.

After the Blues had won the second leg 3-1 to take it to extra time, the former Lyon forward scored the winning goal in extra time, having been kept quiet for much of the game.