Madrid.- The star Karim Benzema dispatched on Sunday with a hat-trick in seven minutes before the break in Real Madrid’s 6-0 win over Valladolid in the Spanish League.
Rodrygo Goes opened the score after a slow start, firing a cross from mid-height inside the box on 22 minutes.
Then came the particular spectacle of the Frenchman Benzema with three superb goals at 29, 32 and 36 minutes, to reach 14 in the championship and 22 in the season.
Marco Asensio finished fifth at 72 minutes, in a combination in the area with Rodrygo that he resolved with a shot at mid-height.
Lucas Vázquez sealed the win in stoppage time with a low shot crossed from a pass from Eden Hazard.
“Karim is a spectacular player, a world star. He scores goals year after year. Little more can be said,” said Vázquez. “I am happy to enjoy every match. Obviously we want him to stay, we are happy that he continues with us ”.
With this win, the meringues reached 59 points, 12 behind leader Barcelona (71), who on Saturday also thrashed Elche 4-0 as a visitor.
Madrid began the match weakly in which they even received a whistle from a part of the stands after Roque Mesa crashed the first of two shots that hit the post in the 10th minute.
After Rodrygo broke the deadlock by taking advantage of an assist from Asensio, Benzema stepped in to end a run of three league games without scoring.
The reigning Ballon d’Or winner made the first of his own with a low header from Vinícius Júnior’s pass to the far post. Three minutes later, he shined with a shot from the edge of the area that shook the nets next to one of the posts.
Benzema signed his ninth game with three goals as a merengue, but the first with all the targets before the break, when he made an acrobatic shot with his back to the goal in a Chilean half to Rodrygo’s cross.
The shaken Valladolid -16th in the standings with 28 points- returned from the break with bad luck when Enrique Pérez took a shot that hit the post.
Without threatening the locals, Asensio and Vázquez were in charge of making the win more extensive in the complement.
The meringues once again trusted the ousted Belgian Hazard, who played for the first time since the fifth day.
Real Madrid shone at a time when a relevant part of the calendar is coming up when they visit Barcelona on Wednesday in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals, a series in which they are down 1-0 on aggregate.
CORREA GIVES THE VICTORY TO ATLÉTICO
Ángel Correa scored a superb goal down the stretch to give Atlético Madrid a 1-0 win over Betis to secure third place in the championship.
The Argentine winger received the ball in three quarters and dribbled past several opponents before scoring his seventh goal of the course with a right foot inside the area after 86 minutes.
The colchoneros extended their undefeated streak to 11 games – eight wins and three draws – with their fourth consecutive victory in the league to reach 54 points. Betis was fifth with 45.
Correa celebrated his 66th as a mattress player (52 in the league), of which 36 have been to open the scoring.
The duel at the Metropolitano stadium was special for the Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak, who reached 389 appearances with Atlético to equal the Uruguayan defender Diego Godín as the foreigners with the most appearances in the history of the institution.
In other results, Villarreal beat Real Sociedad 2-0 and Celta de Vigo drew 2-2 with Almería.
