Karim Benzema is expected to lead the Real Madrid line in Thursday night's Copa del Rey semi-final first leg with Barcelona at Bernabeu.
The 35-year-old has had his fitness problems during the 2022-23 campaign but is still enjoying another strong season, scoring 18 goals and registering five assists in 25 appearances in all competitions.
Benzema was on the scoresheet in Real Madrid's 3-1 success over Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals of the tournament, and he will now be bidding to help Los Blancos navigate their way past Barcelona.
The second leg of the last-four contest will not take place until the start of April, and the two teams will actually meet in La Liga before then, with Carlo Ancelotti's team heading to Camp Nou on March 19.
Here, Sports Mole takes a look at Benzema's overall record against Barcelona.
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The experienced forward has actually taken on the Catalan outfit on 43 occasions during his professional career, which is a staggering amount of matches against one team.
Benzema has won 14, drawn 10 and lost 19 of his previous 43 games against Barcelona, scoring 13 goals and registering 10 assists in the process.
Three of those matches actually took place in the Champions League during his time at Lyon, but he has never faced Barcelona in the European Cup while representing Los Blancos, as the Frenchman was an unused substitute in both legs of their semi-final in 2010-11.
The bulk of the fixtures, as expected, have been in La Liga, boasting a record of nine wins, five draws and 12 defeats from 26 matches, scoring eight goals and registering four assists.
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Benzema has also taken on Barcelona on eight occasions in the Spanish Super Cup, winning four of those matches, drawing once and suffering three defeats.
Thursday's meeting will be the seventh time that he has taken on the Catalan outfit in the Copa del Rey, and he has only enjoyed one victory against them in that particular competition.
The success came in the final of the 2013-14 tournament, but he has only netted once against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey, while he was a part of the Real Madrid side that suffered a 4-1 aggregate defeat to the Catalan team in the semi-finals of the 2018-19 competition.
Benzema's last appearance against Barcelona was in the final of the Spanish Super Cup earlier this year, when he scored in a 3-1 Real Madrid defeat, but he did help Los Blancos record a 3-1 victory when the two teams locked horns at Bernabeu in the league last October.
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Matt Law
