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Real Madrid smashed Levante 6-0 to confirm Levante’s relegation on Thursday. Vini Jr. had three goals and Luka Modrić had three assists. For me, the best play of the game was the Karim Benzema assist to Vini Jr. for the fifth, the Frenchman going full Gumby-legs to set up the Brazilian.
It was one-way traffic at the Bernabeu with Real Madrid putting 16 shots on target to just one for Levante. Los Blancos could have taken things easy having already clinched the LaLiga crown and with a Champions League final with Liverpool to look forward to in a couple of weeks. Instead, they obliterated last-place Levante.
Benzema scored his 323rd goal for Real Madrid, tying him for second on the club’s all-time list with Raúl. (Some guy named Cristiano is in first with 450.) It was part of a four-goal first half, rendering the second half mostly meaningless.
Meaningless except for an entertaining assist from Benzema to Vini in the 68th minute. Benzema’s legs went in just about every direction before finding space to make the final pass.
Benzema Assist To Vini Jr.
Benzema had to pull out all the moves for this assist to Vinicius pic.twitter.com/fuuBYQvmgk
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 12, 2022
With the leg-wobbliness of Gumby and the goal-scoring strength of Hercules, let’s just call Benzema Gumbercules.
If Benzema was playing like Gumby, Vini was Pokey. And Pokey had his first career Real Madrid hat trick, finished off in the 83rd minute to complete Levante’s humiliation to give him 21 goals on the season in all competitions.
Here are the full-match highlights, including a hat trick of first-half assists from pass-master Modrić.
Real Madrid vs. Levante Highlights (May 12, 2022)
Real Madrid closes the LaLiga season against Cádiz and Real Betis before playing Liverpool on May 28.
