Siuuuu, it's come to this. The sidekick takes centre stage. The man who carried water for Cristiano Ronaldo gets his champagne moment.
Karim Benzema has gone from jeers to cheers at Real Madrid, with his 13-year odyssey in Spain having been a tale of survival at times.
How many times was he touted for a move to Arsenal during the Arsene Wenger era?
Wenger's consistent message that he did not need Benzema because Arsenal already had plenty of quality forwards has not aged particularly well.
Today, we need to talk about Karim, because it would be hard to think of a worthier Ballon d'Or winner.
His 44 goals in 46 games last season came in a double-winning cause, with Real Madrid carrying off the Champions League and LaLiga trophies. Make it a treble if you're counting the Supercopa, where the final saw Benzema score from the spot against Athletic Bilbao.
He has spent much of the year skippering Los Blancos, given club captain Marcelo was just a fringe figure in Carlo Ancelotti's team before leaving at the end of last season.
You might ask yourself: is this the same Karim Benzema as the player heckled from the Santiago Bernabeu stands five years ago? The player whose five goals in 32 LaLiga games in 2017-18 had some supporters ready to wave him off?
What use was a 30-year-old five-goal striker?
Benzema backed himself then as he backs himself today, and with Zinedine Zidane and Ancelotti similarly convinced, the Frenchman has gradually moved into the spotlight, the last survivor of the BBC combination that rivalled Barcelona's MSN.
Just like Messi-Suarez-Neymar, the Bale-Benzema-Cristiano all-star trio was compelling, but there was often a sense it was two thoroughbreds and a workhorse, the latter constrained by the dutiful role he was asked to fulfil.
Benzema knew better than to be a neigh-sayer, swallowed the sugarcoated reassurances, and proved himself a champion stallion after all.
When Ronaldo trotted off to Juventus in 2018, and as Bale's contributions waned, for the first time Benzema found himself the talisman.
He had been overshadowed all the way back to his first week at the club, when his presentation followed three days on from Ronaldo's own first big welcome at the Bernabeu.
Ronaldo's unveiling came on July 6, 2009, in front of an 80,000 crowd. Some of those returned for Benzema's own bow, but most had other things on.
Benzema was signed for €35million from Lyon amid an extraordinary spree, one that saw Florentino Perez's second term as president begin with not only Ronaldo and Benzema coming in, but Kaka, Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Negredo and Alvaro Arbeloa too.
An arduous first season (nine goals in 33 games) followed for Benzema, but in each of the next six campaigns he managed at least 20. Even in the Jose Mourinho era when he and Gonzalo Higuain would typically be fighting for one place.
Never mind that Ronaldo broke the 50-goal barrier in each of those seasons, Benzema was the magician's most trustworthy assistant.
In 2015, not long after losing his job at Madrid, Ancelotti told AS: "To me, Karim is the best player in the world in his position and not just as a goalscorer. Talking about whether he should score 30 goals is a false debate. He has great qualities; he is a complete player."
Ancelotti's short-lived successor, Rafael Benitez, made similar claims but also questioned Benzema's finishing and began to substitute him regularly, saying: "He is a phenomenon. Let him get mad. Next day, make sure you score twice instead of once."
It was tough love from Benitez, who was replaced in mid-season by Zidane. Benzema finished the season with 28 goals in 36 games across all competitions, scoring at a rate of one every 92.75 minutes.
In 2016-17, as the goals began to dry up, Zidane kept faith.
A poll conducted by sports daily AS showed that 88 per cent of Madrid fans preferred Benzema to start games as a substitute, but Zidane said: "We're not concerned, he's having a great season.
"We know what Karim can offer the side but the fans always want more from their players and that's something we must accept. He has the right character, he can accept the fans' point of view. He won't hide and he will always have my support."
In April 2018, Benzema spoke out in that great football bible, Vanity Fair, as he struggled to put the ball in the back of the net. All the while, Zidane had his back, and crucially another Champions League title was on the way that season.
"What I don't like is when people attack me when I play well, even if I don't score," Benzema said. "I play for the people who value what I do on the pitch.
"Those that come to the stadium to whistle, let them whistle. I'm not going to change their opinion."
In that season's LaLiga campaign, Benzema's five goals put him in a tie for fifth among the team's top scorers, alongside Casemiro and Toni Kroos. Ahead of him were Ronaldo (26 goals in 27 games), Bale (16 goals), Isco (7) and Marco Asensio (6).
Benzema was way behind his expected goals total of 13.22, which reflects the quality of his chances and likelihood of scoring.
When Ronaldo left, something clicked. In LaLiga alone, Benzema had not had consecutive 20-goal seasons while Ronaldo was at Madrid, but four followed in succession: 21, 21, 23, and last season's 27-goal league haul.
He was thriving not merely on responsibility, for that had always been there, but on prominence. Previously a glorified gofer, he has become the go-to man.
And now, with Ronaldo and Bale withering in Manchester and Los Angeles respectively, Benzema is flowering as his 35th birthday approaches.
He is club captain, and although Zidane has departed, it would have heartened Benzema to see Ancelotti recalled to Madrid last year, his old advocate returning.
By now five times a Champions League winner and four times a LaLiga champion, the individual accolades have been flowing for Benzema since Ronaldo headed over the horizon.
He was UEFA men's player of the year and Champions League player of the season for 2021-22, having finished as top scorer in Madrid's glory run. He took the Pichichi prize as LaLiga's leading goal-getter last term, too.
Despite intense lobbying from Madridistas, Benzema finished just fourth in Ballon d'Or voting last year, as Lionel Messi took the award for a seventh time.
There was ample reason for Benzema to be a strong contender in 2021, but his case has become utterly compelling since. In a sense this is a lifetime achievement award and a single-season accolade rolled up into one.
Everything has led to this moment. The wait has been overwhelmingly worth it.
Carlo Ancelotti plays down form relevance amid ‘special tension’ of Madrid derby
Carlo Ancelotti has stressed that form counts for little amid the “special tension” of a Madrid derby as Real and Atletico prepare to clash at the Metropolitano Stadium on Sunday.
The two sides head into the game on the back of contrasting fortunes, with Ancelotti’s Real having reeled off five straight wins to kick off the LaLiga season as well as getting their Champions League campaign under way with victory over Union Berlin.
Atletico, meanwhile, limp into the game still shellshocked by goalkeeper Ivan Provedel’s late equaliser for Lazio in their midweek Champions League clash, which swiftly followed their 3-0 domestic loss at Valencia last week.
“I think the derby is always a great opportunity, whether you’re in a good moment or a bad one,” said Ancelotti.
“A derby is always a special game. We like to prepare for these games and be the stars. There is a special tension and we’re excited to do all we can to be the stars.”
Ancelotti has named Vinicius Jr in his squad after the Brazilian made a faster than expected recovery from a calf strain sustained in the win over Celta Vigo last month.
The initial prognosis ruled the player out for six weeks but Ancelotti bridled at suggestions that he may have taken an unnecessary risk in naming the winger in his squad ahead of schedule.
“There is zero risk,” Ancelotti insisted. “He trained because there is zero risk. If we think there is one per cent risk, he won’t play. What’s important is that Vinicius has recovered. I’ve told him he will be missing some conditioning after a month out, but we will evaluate it tomorrow.”
There was also encouraging news over in-form England midfielder Jude Bellingham, who has made a full recovery after missing training on Thursday with a minor stomach complaint.
Ancelotti alluded to the midfield riches at his disposal that have helped extend his side’s perfect start, and said his big names should not take it personally if they are subject to rotation or substitution.
“Leaving not only (Toni) Kroos or (Luka) Modric on the bench is hard, and the same for (Federico) Valverde,” added Ancelotti.
“The competition in midfield is strong and the reflection with the team is when we make a change, the player coming off is sad.
“I understand that you come off sad because you think I’m changing you because you’re not playing well. But very often it’s because I have resources and I want to put someone on fresh. I tell them only to be sad if they haven’t given 100 per cent.”
Luis Enrique expects PSG forwards to follow Kylian Mbappe’s lead
Luis Enrique is confident it will not only be Kylian Mbappe boasting impressive stats in the Paris St Germain attack this season.
The opening five matches of PSG’s Ligue 1 campaign have seen them claim eight points and score 10 goals, with seven of those being netted by Mbappe.
The France forward was on the scoresheet once again in Wednesday’s 2-0 Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund, putting his side ahead with a penalty.
PSG return to league action with Sunday’s Le Classique against Marseille at the Parc des Princes, and when asked at his pre-match press conference if the team were depending too much on Mbappe, boss Enrique said: “That is a great thing to worry about.
“If we have a player like Kylian Mbappe who usually scores 50 goals and gets 25 assists, it would be ridiculous to think that he wouldn’t keep that up.
“We hope he can keep improving, and his team-mates can contribute more in terms of goals and assists, and I think many of the players will have impressive stats.”
In a summer that saw Lionel Messi and Neymar depart the club, PSG’s new signings included the attacking trio Ousmane Dembele, Goncalo Ramos and Randal Kolo Muani, none of whom have scored yet.
Enrique was asked if he was expecting more in the Marseille contest from the latter pair, and said: “I expect a lot from every player.
“We need to be efficient in attack and in defence. We need our defenders to bring the ball forwards to our attackers so they can score goals, and the attackers also need to apply the press.
“What matters is that we achieve our target as a team.”
The champions, after drawing twice, then winning twice, were beaten in their last league outing, 3-2 at home by Nice.
Marseille have parted company with boss Marcelino since their last league match.
The club said a meeting took place on Monday at which “representatives of the supporters’ associations expressed their wish to see the current OM directorate resign”, adding: “The threat of a ‘war’ against them was issued, for as long as they did not resign from their posts.”
OM then released a statement on Wednesday saying: “Olympique de Marseille believes that the events of September 18 do not allow Marcelino and his technical staff to carry out their role under suitable conditions for which they were hired.
“As a result of this regrettable situation, Marcelino and his staff will not continue the job they started at Olympique de Marseille.
“Given the circumstances, the entire club is extremely disappointed to face the departure of a coach and technical staff who arrived in Marseille on June 23 and were fully committed to the club, due to non-sporting reasons.”
OM – who are a point better off than PSG in Ligue 1 – subsequently drew 3-3 with Ajax in the Europa League on Thursday, overseen by Jacques Abardonado.
Celtic overcome Joe Hart red card to beat Livingston
Reo Hatate’s penalty and second-half goals from Matt O’Riley and Daizen Maeda helped Celtic to a 3-0 win at Livingston despite losing Joe Hart to a first-half red card.
The former England goalkeeper fouled Mo Sangare just outside of the penalty box and was sent off by referee John Beaton.
That left Brendan Rodgers’ side to play the final hour with just 10 men but they never looked in any real danger as Livingston failed to take advantage of their numerical supremacy.
Their manager David Martindale had made two changes from the team that had drawn 1-1 with Ross County the previous weekend.
In came Sangare and Scott Pittman, replacing Mikey Devlin and Stephen Kelly.
There was only one change to the Celtic starting line-up from their Champions League loss to Feyenoord and it was a surprising one, James Forrest handed his first start since January as Luis Palma dropped out.
The first chance came for Celtic but Hatate’s low dribbler lacked the power to trouble Shamal George in the home goal.
Livingston replied with a fierce Bruce Anderson drive that Hart did well to parry, with Callum McGregor booting Pittman’s rebound effort off the line.
The opening goal, however, came at the other end after 13 minutes. Luiyi de Lucas needlessly brought down Hatate and Beaton immediately awarded the penalty.
Hatate chose to take it himself and his effort squeezed under George’s body to give Celtic the lead.
The goalkeeper was unfortunate there but proved his worth shortly after as he rushed out to block Maeda’s shot from close range.
The next piece of drama unfolded at the other. Sangare reached James Penrice’s ball ahead of Hart, the goalkeeper bringing him down clumsily on the edge of the box.
Beaton flashed a red card and VAR did not change the decision, reducing Celtic to 10 men for the remaining hour of the match. Forrest was sacrificed to allow Scott Bain to come on.
Penrice took the resultant free-kick but curled it into the side netting before Ayo Obileye had a dig from distance that Bain stopped well.
Livingston began the second half looking to capitalise on their extra man but instead found themselves further behind less than three minutes later.
Maeda failed to turn in Kyogo Furuhashi’s cross from close range but O’Riley helped him out by lashing in the rebound.
Joel Nouble then tried to lob Bain after a mistake by the substitute goalkeeper but his attempt drifted just over the crossbar as Livi failed to mount any kind of response.
Instead there was still time for Celtic to claim a third in injury time with Maeda finishing well from distance.
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