Karim Benzema Returns, Real Madrid Fire: Is Frenchman Becoming Rafa's Key Man?

Getafe had been dreadful, but it didn't matter; for Real Madrid, this was what the doctor had ordered. A bevy of goals. An onslaught. A big win.

Pain relief, basically. 

"Aspirina," ran Marca's headline on Sunday to capture exactly that, three white tablets pictured underneath the text, each one carrying its own letter. Together, they read "BBC." Together, they were the necessary dose.

In Saturday's 4-1 win against Getafe, the first "B" in the form Karim Benzema scored two, the second "B" in Gareth Bale scored one and assisted one and the "C" in Cristiano Ronaldo did the same. From those three and from Real Madrid, it felt more like it, like what they're supposed to be. For a day, the team recaptured its top-heavy definition, its heavy hitters doing the bulldozing in the way they're meant to. 

The apparent trigger? Benzema's return. 

In our preview we noted that while this wasn't exactly the Frenchman's return, in effect it was. When he'd come back against Barcelona on Nov. 21, he hadn't been close to being ready; when he'd appeared against Shakhtar Donetsk and Eibar, it had been for only a few moments. Thus, this was the day when Madrid got Benzema back. "The fit one," we said. "The real one. The 100 per cent authentic version."

And the difference he made was profound.

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After four minutes, the hosts were ahead thanks to his opener; after 16, the contest was over thanks to his second; after 38, his return had already become the catalyst for a demolition job, and the how was notable. In a way they often haven't this season, Rafa Benitez's men were both fluent and powerful, their onslaught carrying that characteristic Real Madrid trait of the blows being heavy thumps rather than constant little jabs.

They looked the way Real Madrid should. 

"The first half showed everything this team has in its locker and everything they're capable of doing," remarked a pleased Benitez afterward. And when asked about Benzema, the manager repeated his exact line of the day before: "He's very important for us and helps the others to play well."

He is, and he does—to the point where it's reasonable to wonder whether Benzema is becoming the team's key figure. 

In the Frenchman's extended absence, the structure of Real Madrid's attack had felt all wrong, its calibration out of whack. Between them, Ronaldo and Bale had attempted to cover the centre-forward position, but it hadn't really worked out. The Portuguese is a reluctant centre-forward; the Welshman is a totally unnatural one. Both have a lot of the raw tools that are required, yes, but neither has that very specific instinct for the position—they're not centrepieces whom others can play off and around.  

Consequently, Madrid's forward setup had lost a lot of its punch because the system had become disjointed. Without Benzema, Benitez's side lacked a central target and a connection between the midfield and attack, depriving them of an obvious avenue and often leaving the formation to look like two separate pieces working totally independent of one another.  

Goals dried up. Winning became hard work. They didn't really function. 

But Benzema's return changed all of that.

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Suddenly on Saturday, it all looked connected again. The pieces all plugged in. Benzema was once again the adapter that allowed them all to coexist in the way former manager Carlo Ancelotti described back in October. In fact, the team on Saturday looked a lot like Ancelotti's version of it. 

And yet saying Benzema is merely a good foil for others would be totally inaccurate; he's not only functioning for the collective benefit. 

So far this season, the France international has eight league goals in 612 minutes. That's a goal every 76.5 minutes; no one in the league has a better hit rate. Not even the rampant Neymar or Luis Suarez, who've made the Camp Nou look like a playground this season. Ronaldo and Bale aren't close, either.  

Thus, what Benitez and Real Madrid have in Benzema is a player who's both in career-best form in front of goal and who also gives structure and clarity to the system in a way others can't.

Does that make him the team's key figure? Maybe. Maybe not.

Either way, though, it's a very legitimate question.