Benzema explains reason for Panenka penalty for Real Madrid against Man City

The French man decided to disgrace Ederson with the penalty against Man City.

Karim Benzema scored two goals as Real Madrid suffered a 4-3 loss to Manchester City in a UEFA Champions League first-leg semi final fixture played at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, April 26, 2022.

The Frenchman pulled one back for Real Madrid in the 33rd minute of the first half.

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Down two goals in the second half, Benzema converted a penalty for Real Madrid's third of the game.

It was a Panenka penalty from Benzema to send Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson the wrong way.

The decision to take an audacious Panenka penalty by Benzema came after he missed twice from the spot kick in Real Madrid's last La Liga outing against Osasuna.

The Frenchman has explained the decision to take the Panenka spotkick despite his previous misses.

Benzema said: "I always have it in my head that if you don't take a penalty, you will never miss a penalty. That's mental confidence and that's all. I have a lot of confidence in myself... so I do it and it turns out well."

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti also stated that Benzema had practiced the Panenka penalty in training before taking to the pitch.

He added, "I think he changed because the last two penalties were not good. He tried in training, I didn't know how he would shoot.

"He chose this [Panenka] and he did really well, showing strong personality and character. It's not easy in the semi-final of the Champions League to shoot a penalty like this."

Benzema took to his official Instagram account to issue a warning to Manchester City ahead of the second leg.

He said, "𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙪𝙣… ¡ Somos el Real Madrid!."

Real Madrid take on Manchester City in the second leg scheduled to take place at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Wednesday, May 4, 2022.