Finally! Real Madrid machine is working. A month and a half ago, the royal club scored five in Liverpool by playing the game of the season, but after that, a crisis began. Two defeats against Barcelona, falling out of the title race and just two wins in their last six games have started to raise alarm bells in Madrid ahead of the decisive battle of the season. Ancelotti’s team finally found an offensive arsenal today, destroyed Valladolid 6:0, and the most important thing is that Karim Benzema finally worked. For the first time in almost two and a half months, the Frenchman scored goals from open play and all three were scored in just seven minutes. It was the third fastest hat-trick in Real Madrid history.After Rodrigo started scoring after an assist from Asensio in the 22nd minute, Benzema’s show followed. He scored the first goal with a header after a great move. The second came with a shot from the edge of the penalty area that was preceded by a wonderful fake. And the third with an acrobatics from the penalty area after Rodrigo’s cross.The last Real Madrid player to score a hat-trick in the first half was Cristiano Ronaldo eight years ago. The Frenchman came within a goal of fourth place on the all-time list of the best scorers in Primera. He gave a total of 233, and the fourth-placed Hugo Sanchez is only a goal behind him. Legends Messi (474), Ronaldo (311) and Zara (251) are ahead. Also, Benzema reached a total of 22 goals for Real in all competitions this season. This is his 11th consecutive season in which he scored at least 20 goals for Real. No one before him had ever managed to do that. Legends Raul and Di Stefano scored 20 or more goals in 10 consecutive seasons.Maybe he could have scored another goal, but Ancelotti didn’t want to risk anything and took him out of the game in the 56th minute. He wants to have him as fresh and rested as possible for the much more important duel that follows Real on Wednesday. The Spanish champion will visit Barcelona in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. They will try to make up for the minimal defeat from Madrid and stay in the race for at least one domestic trophy. They have already lost twice against Barcelona in the previous twenty days and a victory against their biggest rival is a must.That’s why it was so important for them that they worked in attack today, because the offensive weakness was one of the main reasons for the failure against Barca. Apart from Benzema, Ancelotti can be happy with the performance of the other offensive players. With Asensio, Rodrigo and Vinicius behind Benzema, this was the most offensive formation possible and maybe a possible clue how he will play in Barcelona. All three had a concrete performance today. Asensio recorded a goal and an assist, Vinicius two assists, and Rodrigo a goal and two assists.In the end, the reserves also worked. Eden Hazard replaced Benzema and played for Real in the championship for the first time since September 11! And this time he managed to finally do something. In stoppage time he assisted Lucas Vasquez, who thus celebrated the jubilee 300th match in the Real Madrid jersey in the most beautiful way.LA LIGA – ROUND 27FridayMallorca – Osasuna 0-0SaturdayGirona – Espanyol 2-1 (0-0)/Martinez 53, Stuani 88 pen – Braithwaite 74/Ath.Bilbao – Getafe 0-0Cadiz – Sevilla 0-2 (0-0)/Ocampos 51, En Nesyri 74/Elche- Barcelona 0-4 (0-1)/Lewandowski 20, 66, Fati 56, Torres 70/SundayCelta – Almeria 2-2 (2-2)/Seferovic 10, Perez 42 – Babic 7, Puigmal 32/Real Madrid – Valladolid 6-0 (4-0)/Rodrygo 22, Benzema 29, 32, 36, Asensio 73, Vazquez 90+2/19:30: (2.50) Villareal (3.20) Sociedad (3.20)22:00: (1.62) Atl.Madrid (3.90) Betis (6.50)Monday22:00: (2.15) Valencia (3.15) Rayo Vallecano (3.70)***odds are subject to change***
