What should be a simple end-of-season game sand became a farewell meeting to the merengue captain, who equalized from a penalty (72) the goal from Oihan Sancet (49) with which Athletic had gone ahead.
Nothing more to mark, the Frenchman withdrew in the 73rd minute replaced by Luka Modric, amid a round of applause from the fans, to whom Benzema applauded the stands, before embracing his coach Carlo Ancelotti.
After the break, the fans were also able to applaud Marco Asensio, who on Saturday had announced his departure from the Madrid team after the end of the season, like Mariano and Eden Hazard.
The Belgian, Asensio and Benzema ended up blanketed by his own teammates at the end of the match, when the team gathered in the center of the field to receive the applause of the Bernabéu public.
Accompanied by shouts of “Karim, Karim” at various points in the match, Benzema would have to wait for the second half to score, in a game largely dominated by an Athletic that was trying to speed up its last chances of getting into Europe.
Ernesto Valverde’s men were able to take the lead before fifteen minutes after a handball in the area by Toni Kroos, but the penalty kicked by Mikel Vesga ran into a good hand from Thibaut Courtois (10).
It was difficult for Real Madrid to find the rhythm of the match, although he also had his chances that goalkeeper Unai Simón cut off.
The Athletic goalkeeper showed off to stop a shot from Vinicius (24)before returning to draw a saving hand in a boarding school from Rodrygo (45).
The ‘Lions’ took the lead after the break when Sancet took advantage of a rebound in the area to make it 1-0 from point-blank range (49).
– Penalty goal –
The goal confirmed the dominance of an Athletic more involved in the game against Real Madrid, who with the score against tried to be more vertical.
Vinicius tried to impose his speed on the wing to arrive with more danger, but the equalizing goal would come from a penalty committed against Militao, which Benzema was in charge of transforming (72) scoring his 354th goal that cements him as the second best scorer in the history of Real Madrid.
Benzema’s goal prevented Real Madrid from going on vacation with a defeat and allowed them to maintain third position in the League, after Atlético de Madrid drew 2-2 with Villarreal.
The ‘Yellow Submarine’ took the lead with a goal from Nicolas Jackson (9)but a brace from Ángel Correa (18, 56) turned the game around, before Jorge Pascual equalized (90+2).
Villarreal tried to carry the weight of the match, but he found an Atlético well-established in defense, which was lethal on the counterattack.
Osasuna managed to beat Girona 2-1 to defend his eighth place and secure his place in the Conference League thanks to a brace from Ante Budimir (52, 55).
Real Sociedad beat Sevilla 2-1 completely remodeled, compared to the team that won the Europa League against Roma on Wednesday.
Brais Méndez opened the scoring for Real (27), who increased the score with a goal from Momo Cho (73), before Erik Lamela closed the gap for Sevilla (77). In another meeting of the day, Mallorca beat Rayo Vallecano 3-0.
