NE M’EN VOULEZ PAS. APRES TOUS, C’EST REAL MADRID!

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Don’t hold-it against me. After all, it’s Real Madrid!

First Juni, then Michael Jackson, now this!!! This is honestly too much loss for a human being to be subjected to in the span of a couple of months. In case you’ve been living on the moon these last few days, Karim Benzema has left Lyon!!! I think I’m finally starting to get over the shock of this, and the seriousness of this developement- along with the sadness- is starting to sink-in. We all new that this was Karim’s last year, and were pretty convinced that all the rumors of bids by the big clubs were either rubbish or would be rebuffed, since the player himself stated he didn’t want to move before the WC ‘10. But, it appears that the moment Real actually came calling, it would be too much for Benzema to resist. Dam you David Villa!!!

This season has indeed been a sad one for OL: not only did it see departure of our beloved captain Juninho Pernambucano, but now we say goodbye to the greatest football “product” Lyon has produced, Karim Benzema.

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Karim burst upon the scene this year with a prolific scoring run in the CL, joining the elite strikers of Europe.

Karim is a veritabale son of Lyon. He was born in the city and is a product of OL’s youth system, signing a contract with them at the age of nine. From a young age, his precocious talent stood-out amongst his peers and for many of the staff within the youth system, there was never a sliver of doubt that Karim would one day rise to greatness. He would have the first of many impressive seasons, scoring a whopping thirty-eight goals with Lyon’s U-16 team. Karim’s inate talent and confidence would bolt him into the senior squad, at the ripe age of 17. OL personnel would recall Benzema going-up to the senior squad strikers and telling them that he would be taking their spot soon.

The ‘07-’08 season created and opening for Benzema: With the depature of OL’s most talented attackers e.g., Sylvain Wiltord, John Carew, and Florent Malouda- as well as Fred’s injury, Karim was handed the reigns of the attack by new coach Alain Perrin. Along with fellow phenom cadet Hatem Ben Arfa, they brought great hope and high expectations that OL would reach new heights one day and bring something special for many years to come. But it wasn’t to be so. We saw glimpses of tantalizing interplay between the two startlets in that season of ‘07-’08 when they would both come away with honors: Karim took L1 Player of the Year, after leading the league with twenty goals scored, and HBA would take Best Young Player of the Year award.

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The ‘08-’09 season saw that relationship shater, with HBA at the center of many locker room scandals and testimonials from other players that both of their egos had gotten out of control. Karim began the ‘08-’09 season bereft of his side-kick, as HBA made the exit during the summer mercato to Marseille. Center stage was now his alone, and it was his chance to show what he could achieve on his own, and that he did . He did not dissapoint, Benzema put OL on his back and racked up an impressive goal talley through a large part of the season, in spite of the new coach’s heavily defensive style of play.

But the young striker could only do so much of the lifting. After a prolific scoring run during a span of eleven goals in twenty-two matches, the burden became too much, and Karim hit the proverbial “wall,” only finding the back of the net three times in thirteen matches. But Karim would finally escape the drought scoring twice in a pivotal match against Marseille near the end of the season in the Velodrome, a match that few expected us to survive. Karim’s scores in that match were instrumental in the squad’s escape from a nine-game winless span that saw Bordeaux overtake them as leaders and OM take second, as well as pushing Lyon to the brink of elimination from the CL, a battle they would have to fight until the penultimate match of the season. Karim- along with Juni- helped carry the team in the last four matches of the season, Benzema scoring three key goals in the last two matches before the meaningless season finale against Toulouse, ending the season with a tally of seventeen, landing him second in scoring, tied with PSG’s Gillaume Hoarau and high scorer Andre Pierre Gignac of Toulouse. This would seal Lyon’s grip on third place and a trip back to the CL.

Despite his youth, Karim was a linchpin at OL. He had turned the outcome of matches in OL’s favor, many a time in his short career. The most important instances that come to my mind are the aforementioned Marseille match, as well at the final match of the CL group stages last year, when an OL- decimated by injury- were on the brink of elimination vs. Rangers at Ibrox, until Karim came-up with a brace, that saw us win 3-0 and through to the knock-out rounds. And who could forget the following CL match which saw Benzema score vs. one of the titans of football, Man U at Gerland. The score put us in the lead, and almost saw us pull-out a win were it not for our incompetent defense allowing a late goal that ended the game in a 1-1 draw.

Yes, despite all the allegations of swollen ego by fellow players, and ramblings about leaving his home club for greener pastures, Karim Benzema, although never a leader, was undoubtedly a large part of the engine that drove Lyon in the last couple of years. His prolific scoring led Lyon and very often carried the team during dark moments. He will be sorely missed, and no matter who is brought in, it’s highly doubtful that we will ever have someone who fills us with the hope that Karim’s prodigal talent gave us; a hope that such blossoming talent would contribute to the elevation of our club in the future, even if it was just for a short while.

Karim won four titles with OL(’05,’06,’07, and ‘08). His career stats with OL are as follows:

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Category: Player News and Rumors, Team News and Rumors, Transfers