Karim Benzema scores first Champions League knock-out brace in four years and other Deadly Stats as Real Madrid book place in final

Sport360 staff 00:40 02/05/2018
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    • Karim Benzema scored twice as holders Real Madrid held off a late Bayern Munich onslaught to edge into their third consecutive Champions League final on Tuesday.

    A 2-2 second-leg draw at the Santiago Bernabeu sealed a 4-3 semi-final aggregate victory as Real reached the May 26 final in Kiev.

    Here are some Deadly Stats from the Bernabeu.

    Benzema shows his class

    Although he may have been criticised for his lack of goals this season, Benzema’s two strikes at the Bernabeu means he has now scored 55 Champions League goals, with Ronaldo (120) and Messi (100) the only two active players to score more.

    Remarkably, the Frenchman’s first European strike was for Lyon against Rosenbourg in December 2005.

    Four year wait…

    The 30-year-old’s brace means it’s the first time he has scored two goals in a knock-out game since Los Blancos’ 6-1 win over Schalke at the last-16 stage of the competition in February 2014.

    Zidane the magician 

    Under Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid have never been knocked out of the Champions League.

    The Frenchman is also the first manager since Marcello Lippi (1996-1998) to reach three consecutive finals

    Bayern’s poor away record in Europe

    Benzema’s brace means Bayern Munich have now failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 14 Champions League away games, stretching all the way back to the 2-0 win at Dinamo Zagreb in December 2015.

    Passing magic

    Real Madrid completed the second most number of passes (28) in the build-up to Benzema’s first strike – with Lucas Digne’s goal for Barcelona against Olympiakos in October the highest by one more pass.

    Goal drought over

    James Rodriguez’s equaliser midway through the second-half is his first goal in the Champions League since the 2-0 win over Roma in March 2016.

    That day, however, he donned a Real Madrid jersey, this time he’s in a Bayern Munich shirt.

    Kimmich steps up

    Joshua Kimmich’s early strike means he has been directly involved in more goals than any other Bayern Munich player in this season’s Champions League.

    His goal against Real Madrid in both the first and second leg add to previous efforts against Celtic and Anderlecht in the group stages.

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