Why Karim Benzema Is Better Striker Option Than Javier Hernandez for Real Madrid

Brought on as a second-half substitute for Javier Hernandez, it took Karim Benzema less than a minute to make his mark on Real Madrid's Champions League clash with Ludogorets on Wednesday.

With his first touch, the Frenchman chipped an inch-perfect ball from the edge of the penalty area to Cristiano Ronaldo, who had his neat shot cleared off the line. It was a move that kick-started a spell of dominance for Carlo Ancelotti's side. 

Of course, Benzema's impact isn't always felt so immediately, but the timing of his first contribution on Wednesday couldn't have been better for the maligned striker. Only moments earlier, Hernandez had made a mess of what should have been a tap in from Isco's ball across the six-yard box. 

"If he had been a Ludogorets defender it would have been considered a bloody good clearance," wrote ESPN FC's Rob Train of the miss after the match. 

It was a tough night for the Mexican. Making his first start at his new club, the former Manchester United striker couldn't quite find a rhythm with those around him—an issue not helped by the visitors' lackadaisical first-half display. 

Although he won a 10th-minute penalty, found Vladislav Stoyanov's gloves with a reasonable header and almost set up Ronaldo with a sharp cross, the European champions lacked fluency with the 26-year-old leading the attack. 

Not a natural facilitator, it was all a little stop-start for the men in black with Hernandez leading the line. Those characteristically swift moves forward from Real—those trademark ones, you know, when the ball is rushed through the middle and the striker comes to meet the midfielders and pushes the ball sharply to the flank before pivoting and storming back toward the goal—were noticeably absent. 

It took Benzema's late introduction to change that.

Valentina Petrova/Associated Press

Aiding the France international considerably is his size; he's far bigger than Hernandez. 

Thanks to that more imposing presence, the No. 9 was able to occupy the hosts' centre-back pairing more effectively, pushing up higher than the Mexican to present himself as an option for his midfielders, dragging Ludogorets' back four out of shape in the process and creating space on the wings and in behind. 

Quickly, with Benzema's presence, Ancelotti's men operated more fluidly, moving the ball faster from midfield to attack as Los Blancos' primary striker disrupted the Bulgarians' defensive organisation. 

Ten minutes after his entry, Real got their decisive goal when Benzema turned home Marcelo's fine cross. Had Toni Kroos not blasted over the bar from the Frenchman's superb setup just moments later, the visitors would have walked away from Sofia as 3-1 winners.

The night's achievements were significant for Benzema, who continues to face a deluge of criticism at the Bernabeu. 

His second-half strike was his 38th Champions League goal in just 66 games. Only Ruud van Nistelrooy and Lionel Messi have ever reached that mark in faster time, per Goal.com's Ben Hayward. 

"Scoring goals is important for every striker but what matters to me is playing for the team. The important thing was a win," Benzema told Canal+ after the victory, per Goal.com. "The fans want me to score a lot of goals but I'm happy with what I give for the team."

Exactly what it is that he gives to the team was highlighted by the contrasting evenings experienced by Benzema and Hernandez in Bulgaria, and how the pair's team-mates responded to each man's presence. 

In fact, the two strikers couldn't be more different. The unfashionable European and the stylish North American share few similarities. 

Yet, the issue for Hernandez is how both his game and his career have been shaped by his stint at Old Trafford. 

Consistently used as a late substitute by Sir Alex Ferguson and David Moyes, the Mexican's predatory instincts inside the box—Wednesday's miss was extremely rare—have become almost the sole foundation of his play.

Too often thrown on in search of a late goal—and he often found it—Hernandez hasn't been afforded the opportunities to broaden his game and develop his craft. Even when cracking double figures in front of goal in United's last successful season in 2012-13, Hernandez made just nine league starts, per WhoScored.com. 

The end result has been the production of an opportunistic but limited striker. He can certainly score—as made evident most recently in his brace against Deportivo La Coruna—but he doesn't yet have the capacity to regularly create for others or operate as the fulcrum of Real's diverse attack.

That he created only 26 chances across his last two seasons combined in England only reinforces that fact, particularly when you consider Benzema created 63 in 2013-14 alone, per Squawka. 

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

The problem for Benzema, and the reason for much of the criticism he receives, is that it's difficult to quantify a large portion of what he provides. Numbers rarely tell the whole story for the Frenchman.

When a stat sheet reads two goals for Ronaldo and two more for Gareth Bale, Benzema's often more subtle involvements aren't reflected with similar, dazzling figures. 

Which is precisely why Wednesday's clash with Ludogorets was significant. In his absence, what Ancelotti's first-choice striker brings to Real Madrid was made starkly clear by the fact that Hernandez couldn't replicate it.

That, of course, is not the Mexican's fault—that's just who he is and what he's become from the scarce opportunities given to him.  

But laid bare in Bulgaria was how pivotal Benzema is to the flow of Ancelotti's attack; how his involvement and selflessness enhances the threat of others, and how his capacity to be cohesive with the team's plethora of attacking options is currently superior to that of Hernandez. 

"I have great confidence in myself and when I went on I gave my all," Benzema said of his performance after the victory. 

It can only be a matter of time before others begin to share that same sense of confidence as the Frenchman.