Karim Benzema gets better every day like wine, admits Carlo Ancelotti

ꦆKarim Benzema continued his fantastic goalscoring form this season as he scored a hat-trick against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday. The European champions will travel to the Santiago Bernabeu next week for the second leg of the contest as they look to overturn a two-goal deficit to have any chance of retaining their crown this season.

⛎The odds are stacked against Chelsea historically with just one of the previous 43 sides who trailed by two or more goals in a Champions League knockout tie overturning such a deficit away from home in the competition's history.

ඣBenzema’s goal-scoring performance and overall play handed his team the decisive advantage and the Frenchman made history as he became just the fourth player in Champions League history to score back-to-back hat-tricks in the competition following his hattrick against Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round.

💖 Madrid manager Ancelotti praised the French striker for his impact while also highlighting the other traits that set him apart from the rest.

✃"Benzema is a really complete - not striker - player. He gets better every day, like wine. Every day he becomes an even better leader, and feels more how important he is for the team and for the club. I think this is what is making the difference with him, he has a stronger personality now, he knows he is a very important player and that's why he is an example for everybody,” Ancelotti told BT Sport.

𝓀"He scores a lot of goals and this is really important, but he helps the team a lot in possession. He is always in the right position. We are really happy and lucky to have him,” he added.