Thanks to a hat-trick in the first half against Almeria on Saturday for the 32nd day of La Liga, the French center forward Karim Benzema overtook the Mexican Hugo Sanchez (234 goals) and became the fourth top scorer in the history of the championship from Spain.
The 2022 Ballon d’Or benefited from two five-star services, first by Vinicius (5th), then by Rodrygo (17th), then sealed his hat-trick with a penalty (41st) to close in on the podium of the best Spain scorers.
Messi and Ronaldo out of reach
Benzema, who now has 236 goals in La Liga, can still hope to join the historic center forward of Athletic Bilbao Telmo Zarra (253 goals) before his retirement to join the top 3 of this ranking.
The first two places, occupied by Lionel Messi (473 goals) and Cristiano Ronaldo (311 goals), seem out of reach. Benzema is the only active footballer in Spain to rank in the top 15 of La Liga’s top scorers. Antoine Griezmann, who plays at Atlético Madrid, is 17th with 170 goals.