Real Madrid 5-3 Fenerbahce: 3 talking points

Real Madrid finally secured their first regulation-time victory of the pre-season after defeating Fenerbahce 5-3 in the third-place match of the Audi Cup.

The LaLiga giants contested this fixture by virtue of their 1-0 defeat to Tottenham in the semifinal of the four-team invitational tournament. Zinedine Zidane would have been delighted with the result, having failed to win any of the previous four pre-season matches in regulation-time.

The win ensured Real Madrid finished the tournament on the podium and would give them much needed confidence heading into the last week of preseason.

In this piece, we shall be highlighting three talking points from the match from the goal-laden fixture:

---

#1 Karim Benzema the hat-trick hero

Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick

Following his struggles in front of goal over the last few years, doubts were raised over Karim Benzema's suitability to lead the Real Madrid line following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo last summer, but the 32-year-old totally exceeded expectations with his performance.

In the midst of a squad of underperforming teammates last season, Benzema shone, scoring 30 goals from 53 matches in all competitions to end the campaign as unarguably Real Madrid's best-performing player.

Despite the arrival of Eden Hazard and Luka Jovic this summer, Benzema is still Real Madrid's chief goal threat. Heading into the clash against Fernabahce, the former Lyon man had scored just one goal from four preseason fixtures and while that might hardly be earth-shattering form, he exploded to life against the Turkish giants.

In the match with Fenerbahce, Karim Benzema seized the game by the scruff of the neck, needing just 12 minutes to pull Real Madrid level after Garry Rodriguez had put The Eagles ahead.

On 27 minutes, Benzema was on hand to head into the net off a Toni Kroos cross to put Real Madrid 2-1 up.

He netted his third of the night eight minutes into the second half, once again from a header, but with Lucas Vazquez this time acting as the supplier before departing the field on 61 minutes for Mariano Diaz.

Given that Luka Jovic is set to miss the start of the season due to injury, more responsibility would be placed on Karim Benzema and on the evidence of his displays in pre-season so far, he could well be up to the challenge.

#2 Eden Hazard's struggles continue

Hazard struggled against Fenerbahce

Eden Hazard became Real Madrid's most expensive signing of all time when he completed his long-awaited transfer to the Bernabeu from Stamford Bridge. The Belgian international has been earmarked as the man to lead the club into the future.

Given his prior track record of performance at the highest level, these are not lofty ambitions and Hazard is more than capable of being Real Madrid's talisman.

However, so far during pre-season, things have not exactly gone to plan for the 28-year-old, as he has yet to hit top form in any of Real Madrid's five pre-season fixtures.

Against Fenerbahce, Eden Hazard was started from kickoff on the left flank of a 4-2-3-1, but for the entirety of his time on the field, he failed to offer anything of note, looked terribly out of shape and failed at executing even the most basic of passing, keeping in line with his struggles so far in the Real Madrid shirt.

Though pre-season generally should not be read too much into, as the players generally tend to pick up once the season proper kicks off. Real Madrid fans would be hoping this is the case with their marquee summer signing.

#3 Defensive issues still persist

Real Madrid v Tottenham Hotspur - Audi Cup 2019 Semi-Final

Real Madrid's historical emphasis on all-out attacking play means that more often than not, their attacking brilliance comes at the expense of defensive solidity.

This was very evident last season where they conceded 46 goals in 38 LaLiga matches and this is just not good enough for a club of their caliber.

When Cristiano Ronaldo was present, those defensive shortcomings were easily covered, as the Portuguese's high productivity in front of goal made sure of that.

However, in his absence, the goals have dried up and their frailties at the back have become more highlighted and moving ahead, this is an issue that Real Madrid must address.

Judging by their pre-season fixtures, those issues still persist and having conceded 13 goals from just four matches heading into the game against Fernabahce, Zidane would have been hoping for a tighter performance at the back, but what he got was another defensive shortcoming.

It took just six minutes for the Turkish side to breach Keylor Navas' goal and by 59 minutes, they had scored three; bringing the total goals conceded by Real Madrid in pre-season so far to a whopping 16 goals from just five matches.

Great strikers win games, but great defenses win titles and if Real are to challenge for the trophies, they must find a solution to their leaky defense.