Benzema Departs Madrid As The Enigmatic Artisan: A Portrait of Contradictions

• Karim Benzema has departed Real Madrid after 14 years in the Spanish capital
• The Frenchman scored the second-highest number of goals in the club's history
• Benzema will join Saudi Professional League side Al-Ittihad on a three-year deal

La Liga legends leaving - taking with them memories, milestones, and historic trophy hauls - is a sight many fans are becoming used to seeing.

Every summer for the last three seasons has seen a statement piece of furniture leave the league and, in this case, several all at once.

Karim Benzema spent 14 years at Real Madrid and had all of the brilliance and pitfalls of a genius in front of a goal.

At Benzema's farewell press conference, Los Blancos president, Florentino Perez commented the star had 'arrived as a kid' but left as a legend.

Reserved as usual, Benzema thanked all of those who were involved in his time at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

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Benzema’s evolution at Real Madrid

For his first years at the club, Benzema battled to be the first-choice striker, as Gonzalo Higuaín finished more accurately and more frequently, doing so with vigour.

The Frenchman was quicker, every now and then he did extraordinary things, and he did so with a range of skills that conjured up fear in the opposition.

Over time, Benzema became established as the number nine for a side that played to provide for the number seven.

He had spent his teenage years adding the required skills to make himself the sharpest end of a football team, but with Cristiano Ronaldo to his left, took a conscious decision to become the lithium in the middle of it - malleable, valuable, and capable of powering the attack around him.

As the Portuguese star dribbled less, moving closer and closer to the goal while touching the ball less, Benzema moved further away, touched the ball more, and ensured he had a supply line.

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It was no act of heroism, but it was both humble and intelligent.

Likely the shortest route towards titles, he worked out how to play another position on the fly and put aside his ego in order to do so. Over the past decade, Real Madrid had never really functioned with a number ten roaming, and it probably isn’t a coincidence.

A metallic metaphor for him is far too unkind to be allowed to slide - Benzema has a feel and a touch for the ball that at times made him irresistible.

Elegant, and cultured, he played wearing a black rollneck, caring little for the critics and producing what he knew to be of value. Certainly, when Ronaldo left, many Real Madrid fans were troubled by the thought of his departure.

Never as reliable in front of goal as Ronaldo Nazário, Raúl González, Ruud van Nistelrooy, or CR7 alongside him, his followers were forced to defend him in public forums.

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This was something they had to do off the pitch too, as Benzema did not come without problems. Prostitute rings, blackmail, and driving incidents are all things he has sent his lawyer to court for.

For seven years, he was absent from the French national team and when he returned, he left swiftly under a cloud, as reported by AS.

However, Benzema appeared to show the ultimate team ethos when sacrificing his goal tallies for the benefit of others.

In contrast, in the past two seasons, Vinicius Junior has been his best accomplice, but it is not long since the Frenchman asked his teammates not to pass the ball to him, as captured by Marca.

He got off lighter than Olivier Giroud, who was referred to as a carthorse. None of that humble attitude was in evidence when Giroud was leading the line for the World Cup-winning Les Bleus, while he returned back to Madrid having failed to see them past Switzerland.

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With Ronaldo gone though, Benzema embarked on three seasons that would form his magnum opus.

Culminating in a Champions League and La Liga double, the Ballon d’Or-winning season will go down as one of the finest in history. He had the audacity to score a panenka penalty while losing in a Champions League semi-final.

He also had the predatorial instinct to bully Edouard Mendy out of the competition.

In arguably the greatest-ever run to the trophy, no matter how the ball was fired, lofted or rolled into him, Benzema connected with an aesthetic sweetness that eludes most artists for a lifetime.

Flourishing with responsibility and freedom, Benzema became that nightmare opponent that barely misses.

Over that stretch, already in his thirties, he was so good that record-signing Eden Hazard’s absenteeism became a minor side story.

It looked as if he had literally become larger, the sense of his presence conditioned every attack. Benzema was as beautiful to watch as he was effective.

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He leaves Real Madrid with 354 goals and 165 assists in 648 games. The forward who wasn’t ruthless leaves as the club’s second-top scorer in their history, behind only the man he spent nine years working to provide for.

He leaves a legend, a man with statistics to argue his quality on his behalf. A moody genius, he fits all the tropes and was still a one-off.

Benzema reveals his retirement desire

Sports Brief previously reported that Benzema originally intended to retire at the Bernabeu, but that another opportunity has caught his eye.

Speaking at his farewell ceremony, the French forward revealed:

“I signed for Madrid and I wanted to retire here, but it hasn’t been like that. I will always be a Madrid fan. Thanks also to the fans for always giving me that strength. Thank you all, truly.”

Benzema has since been unveiled as a player of Saudi professional league side Al-Ittihad.