Uefa Champions League 2018/2019, Real Madrid 2-1 Viktoria Plzen: Five Talking Points

#1 Real Marid needs to replace Benzema if the club is to remain competitive

Benzema is the man charged with leading the Real Madrid attack

Another player to have been overshadowed by Ronaldo - Karim Benzema has been the main centre-forward for Real Madrid for the best part of a decade, but you would be hard pressed to know, as Ronaldo constantly outscored him, occupying central roles while Benzema drifted out wide.

The 31-year-old has faced growing criticism in recent years, no thanks to his profligacy in front of goal and more shockingly - his poor returns of goals. The Frenchman scored a paltry 12 goals in 48 matches last season.

It was believed that Benzema's excesses were indulged thanks to his close acquaintances with Zidane and Ronaldo, as the 31-year-old had long since shown that he was no longer on an elite level befitting the striker of a club like Real Madrid.

After Ronaldo and Zidane's departures, many felt that Benzema would finally be offloaded, and indeed, speculation linked Madrid with a host of big-name strikers such as Kane and Icardi, but they all ultimately came to nothing.

Benzema was given the nod to start the season, and despite starting the season like a house on fire by scoring five goals in his opening four matches, he fell back into bad habits, going scoreless for his next seven until he broke his drought against Plzen.

Despite the goal, his decision making was poor on the night, failing to anticipate passes by teammates, and electing to be selfish when his colleagues were in better positions.

Real Madrid is a massive club who expect to win all trophies available to them, but it is a well-known fact that goals win games, and with a striker like Benzema leading the line, Real Madrid can as well kiss all their hopes of titles goodbye unless they do the needful and seek a replacement for Benzema in January.