After getting back among the goals on Tuesday night, a fired-up Karim Benzema had a message for his critics afterwards. A fantastic header in the closing stages helped Real Madrid to a 2-1 win over Sporting CP on match day five of the Champions League. That goal propelled the France international to third place on the list of highest scoring active players in Champions League history, level with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and behind only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. "You [the media] are always talking about me," Benzema said briefly to beIN Sports afterwards. "If I'm going through a bad moment, I shouldn't have my place in the team, it is always the same. There's always this and that when it comes to me... "This is my eighth season at Real Madrid, I'm playing for a great club with many other great players and it is up to me how I perform on the pitch. "When you have been out injured, it is good to get back to playing and I had to take things slowly but I feel good now and there is still a long season ahead."
The former Lyon star's strike in Portugal was his sixth of the season in all competitions for Los Blancos.There was a nice flow to the match from the outset. Sporting showed the same mettle that nearly landed them a 1-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu in September, while Real withstood the early pressure and started imposing their will on the Portuguese hosts. But it was a bit of good fortune that enabled Los Blancos to score the game's first goal just shy of the half-hour mark. Luka Modric swung in a free kick from the right that Ronaldo scuffed badly, but it dribbled right to the onside Varane, who spun and fired in past Sporting goalkeeper Rui Patricio for the 1-0 advantage. Sporting immediately looked to answer the Varane goal with an equaliser, and Bruno Cesar nearly did just that after a beautiful build-up from Sporting on the right side, but Ramos alertly redirected the shot out for a corner kick with a reaction header. Minutes before the break Bruno Cesar again had the fans ready to celebrate a goal, this via a free kick, but his curling effort went buzzing just wide of the near post.
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