Ancelotti salutes Benzema after Madrid captain’s hat-trick against Valladolid

Real Madrid bounced back to form in speculation fashion on Sunday afternoon, defeating relegation-threatened Real Valladolid 6-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Karim Benzema was the star of the show, with the former French international netting a seven minute hat-trick. Rodrygo, Marco Asensio and Lucas Vazquez completed the scoring for Real Madrid.

Speaking after the match to DAZN (via Marca), Carlo Ancelotti lamented a poor start for his side, but was thankful for Benzema’s contribution in the victory.

“At the beginning of the game we suffered, and they had chances to score. With the first goal, we had good play up front. We had Karim at his best, so everything went better.”

Benzema now has 14 goals in La Liga, taking him to second in the race for the Pichichi, three behind Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski. He has 20 in all competitions, which has set a new Real Madrid for most seasons scoring that amount.

Ancelotti will hope that Benzema can continue his form over the next month, which could define the season for Real Madrid. Los Blancos take on Barcelona on Wednesday in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final tie, as well as Chelsea over two legs in their Champions League quarter-final encounter.