Frenchman Benzema managed to save Real Madrid from a big defeat, against Manchester City, in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, and scored two goals in his team’s 3-4 defeat.
Despite Real Madrid trailing 2-4 with the result, Benzema decided to go ahead and take the penalty, a very bold decision based on the events of last Saturday.
Benzema had missed two penalties, against Osasuna, in the La Liga competitions only 3 days ago, which means that choosing another player to execute at the Manchester City summit seemed logical.
But the tournament’s top scorer decided to take on the challenge, and even implement the kick in the “Panenka” way, which carries a huge risk, and the kick became the talk of the media afterwards.
The “Panenka” shot is a risky technique, because the delicate touch of the ball gives it a very slow speed, allowing the goalkeeper to return from where he jumped, or even to stay in the same place and wait for the ball to fall easily in their hands, so it completely depends on the goalkeeper throwing a certain direction, And away from the middle.
On the reason for choosing to execute in this bold way, Benzema said after the match: “If you are afraid of missing the penalty, you will never take it.. Whoever refrains from implementing the penalty will not miss the penalty. I have a high mental confidence, that’s all there is to it. I have confidence in myself, so I implemented it this way and the result was good.”
Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti confirmed that Benzema had practiced “Panenka” kick during training in recent days.
“Benzema showed a strong character,” Ancelotti said. “It is not easy to take a penalty in this way in the Champions League semi-final.”
