The Frenchman continued his fine goalscoring form on Wednesday night to help his side move to the top of the La Liga table.
Karim Benzema “makes the guys around him play”, remarked Zinedine Zidane as he hailed his countryman for his heroics in Wednesday’s La Liga outing against Cadiz.
Benzema was on target twice as Real Madrid sealed a 3-0 victory over Cadiz.
The 32-year-old’s brace saw him take his goal tally of the league campaign to 21, meaning he has now scored at least 20 goals in each of his last three La Liga seasons for the first time in his career.
The French forward also leveled club legend Raul Gonzalez’s record of scoring against 35 different La Liga opponents throughout his career.
“I’m delighted with how he’s performing,” Zidane told after the match, via Goal. “We know how important he is to our game and not just because of his goals.
“He makes the guys around him play, we enjoy watching him and I hope Real Madrid can continue enjoying him for a long time to come.”
Zidane added on Real Madrid’s season: “We’re still alive in both competitions and we keep going.
“We’ve picked up three very important points to keep us in the race, but there’s still a long way to go.”