Karim Benzema goes past 350 goals for Real Madrid with hat-trick vs Almeria in LaLiga

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The French forward hit a first-half treble against Almeria on Saturday to move past yet another landmark for the Spanish giants

Karim Benzema celebrates one of his goals against Almeria in LaLiga in April 2023.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Karim Benzema has gone past 350 goals for Real Madrid following his hat-trick against Almeria at the Santiago Bernabeu in LaLiga on Saturday.

The French forward opened the scoring inside five minutes as he ran free to tap home Vinicius Junior's cross from the left.

The 34-year-old then made it 2-0 after some super skill from Rodrygo on the byline after 17 minutes and completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot shortly before half-time.

Benzema's first goal was his 350th for Real Madrid and his treble is a third in April, after he hit hat-tricks against Real Valladolid in LaLiga and Barcelona in the Copa del Rey earlier this month.

Already second on the list of Real Madrid's all-time top scorers, Benzema is now just 98 goals behind his former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, although his age means it will be difficult for him to catch the Portuguese.

After Almeria pulled a goal back in first-half stoppage time, Rodrygo made it 4-1 two minutes into the second half.

Ben Hayward
Ben Hayward
Weekend editor

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.