Solari Praises 'Spectacular' Karim Benzema After His Brace Makes the Difference for Los Blancos

Real Madrid manager Santiago Solari was full of praise for French striker Karim Benzema, who ended a three-match goal drought by netting twice to help Los Blancos win 4-2 at Espanyol. 

Benzema opened the scoring after four minutes, netting from close range after Luka Modric's shot was saved, and added to his tally at the stroke of half time with Real's third of the match.

Sergio Ramos headed in the second and Gareth Bale, who made his first appearance since 3 January, rounded up the scoring to see Real come out 4-2 victors in Catalonia. 

JOSEP LAGO/GettyImages

A third successive La Liga win for Los Merengues sees them reclaim third place in the table from Sevilla, although their success was tainted by the late dismissal of Raphael Varane, after he pulled down Pablo Piatti as the last man. 

Speaking in the post-match press conference, as quoted by Goal, Solari said: "He [Benzema] always makes complete performances, but he has also scored two beautiful goals.

“We totally trust in him and he is demonstrating all of his quality more than ever all this season.

Soccrates Images/GettyImages

Solari was also full of praise for the recovering Gareth Bale, who made his first appearance for Real in almost a month. 

"Gareth is a decisive player, he’s always capable of scoring a goal. He scored as soon as he came on and that was good for the game and his confidence," Solari said, speaking to Real Madrid's official TV channel after the game. 

“Step-by-step he has to regain the form from before the Club World Cup when he scored three goals.

“And this is the Gareth we want to see all the time, like today when he was hungry to score.”

Solari and his players will be hoping they can carry this winning momentum into their next fixture, which sees them travel to Girona for the second leg of their quarter-final tie in the Copa del Rey on Thursday.