Copa Del Rey Farce Illustrates Why Benzema Has To Go

Poor old Karim Benzema. After another woeful display of finishing by the French number 9, an axe from the starting line-up looms large. I'd hate to be Benzema in the dressing room following Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Sevilla in today's Copa Del Rey semi-final, the look of disgust on Jose Mourinho's face following a Benzema miss from virtually on top of the goal line, encapsulated the entire story of the faltering Frenchman's Real Madrid career. To make matters worse for Benzema, his misses were compounded by the fact that Emmanuel Adebayor, brought on for Benzema late in the game, needed only one chance to power the ball into the Sevilla net, a fact that will surely be noted by The Special One. The way Benzema's stock has fallen over the last season and a half was clearly illustrated earlier this year when it appeared that Aston Villa were the only club willing to end Benzema's Real Madrid nightmare. Just  12 months ago a Villa bid for the ex-Lyon forward would have been dubbed "audacious" or even "down right pointless," but now, just a year on, one wonders whether Benzema would be able to wrestle a starting place from the in form Darren Bent. It'll certainly be interesting to see whether Benzema is picked to start against Real Sociedad in Madrid's next match, and if he isn't that will surely be the beginning of the end of Karim Benzema's Spanish football career.