Karim Benzema: Can Paradoxical Madrid Striker Realise Full Scope of His Talent?

Return No. 1: It's hot and it's late, but Real Madrid are in full flow anyway. A week earlier they'd looked a little rudderless in a scoreless draw with Sporting Gijon, but suddenly they're buoyed and full of swagger. Against Real Betis, Karim Benzema's return has sparked them, balancing the attack. He scores and Madrid win, 5-0. 

Return No. 2: The Bernabeu is icy following a calamitous fortnight, but quickly the mood changes. After four minutes on his return against Getafe, Benzema has one. After 16, he has another. By half-time, Real Madrid are out of sight, the football sumptuous, the calibration of their attack falling back into place. Benzema stars and Madrid win, 4-0. 

Return No. 3: The air in Chamartin is tense again. Seven nights earlier, Real Madrid had been a mess in Gran Canaria against Las Palmas. "Playing like this we won't go anywhere," Zinedine Zidane had said. But "this" wouldn't continue. Within minutes, Benzema on return has the first against Sevilla, a spectacular thump finding the net. Later, he creates the third. Benzema shines and Madrid win, 4-0. 

You get the picture. 

Like few others, Karim Benzema thrives on return.  

Whereas most need time to get going, the Frenchman has a knack for explosive comebacks after layoffs, and now he's closing in on another. Last week, his Twitter account released an image of him in training accompanied by the two words that seem to suit him best: "I'm back."

Real Madrid will be aware of the significance. On the back of a ponderous display against Celta Vigo before the international break, Madrid will be eager to establish a rhythm, and so often it's Benzema who's the catalyst for that. His unique skill set regularly pushes them into a sweet spot, the effect he has on this team striking. 

Against Osasuna on Saturday, he could demonstrate that again. But more than simply closing in on a return, in a bigger-picture sense, Benzema might be closing in on what you might call a fork-in-the-road season in his career. 

It's easy to think we've seen everything there is to see from Benzema. Now 28, he's spent the better part of a decade in the spotlight that is the Bernabeu, the theme of his time there firmly established and his game well understood. 

But might it not be so straightforward?

The juncture one reaches at 28 is an interesting one. For those who explode on to the scene early, dashing to almost instant excellence, turning 28 can be a step towards decline. For them, the mileage in their legs can be more than their age suggests, and forwards whose games are founded on athleticism are often hit hardest. Fernando Torres and Wayne Rooney might be good examples.  

For others, though, things are different. In football and across many sports, one's late 20s and early 30s can be profitable times if the circumstances are right. It's a period when the body can still be sharp but the mind calm, fusing together two of the fundamentals of performance. 

At the Bernabeu, Cristiano Ronaldo has shown what's possible in this respect. Elsewhere, a post-28 Zlatan Ibrahimovic has enjoyed some of the best years of career, too, and Luis Suarez and Gonzalo Higuain are fresh off their most devastating seasons having reached such an age bracket. 

It's a point, then, from where you can go two ways, and it's where Benzema is now. 

Last season was unquestionably the most productive of the Frenchman's career, but still there's a sense that he's yet to realise the full scope of his talent. When former Madrid manager Rafa Benitez set Benzema the target of 25 league goals last term, it looked a significant challenge for a player who'd never hit such a mark. 

In the end, he fell only one short, but it was why that's the problem. 

In a campaign disrupted by niggling injuries, the former Lyon star started only 26 league games for Madrid, highlighting his somewhat paradoxical nature in doing so: Benzema is both imposing in stature and fragile at the same time; complete in skill set but not in fulfilment; serene on the pitch but not so off it. 

Until now, the picture of the Madrid striker has been one of a supreme talent who's never quite made the crossover to the existence that's expected. 

Here at Bleacher Report in May, Richard Fitzpatrick explored Benzema's complex path to this point and a life away from the pitch that's remained tied to his upbringing in the tough neighbourhood of Bron-Terraillon. "He never cut the cord," said Robert Valette, who coached him at Lyon. 

It's a background picture that's become central to Benzema's controversies and run-ins with the law. And yet, he's found a way to circle just below the game's summit anyway.  

Last season saw the Frenchman crack the 20-goal mark in all competitions for the sixth straight year. But more than that, he continued to show he's the one who makes Madrid function; who balances the attack; who makes things easier for everyone else. 

When he played last season, Madrid scored more heavily, created more shooting chances and took those shots from better positions compared to when he was absent. The simple explanation for that, of course, is that when you put another elite talent on the field, things will be better. But there's a more detailed explanation, too. 

Benzema is the one who ensures a degree of compatibility between Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. He links them together, and to his midfield, he's a wonderful reference point, functioning as a fulcrum for the rest of the side to play from. 

The conclusion has become this: "Benzema, worth the trouble," as put by Marca in November.  

But what if there was no trouble? What if Benzema could fully harness what he has? How high could he go?

"Ronaldo really understands what he can do with his talent. Karim? No," former France manager Raymond Domenech told Bleacher Report. "Ronaldo has more self-pride. If Karim had only 10 per cent of Ronaldo's drive, he could win the Ballon d'Or."

It's this that has become the established theme of Benzema's time in the Spanish capital. He's become a high-performance forward surrounded by a sense of distraction, preventing him from smashing through the barrier that separates the very good from the sublime. 

In recent seasons, his influence has grown, but they are seasons that have still been dominated by fleeting bursts more than sustained barrages. Somewhere, the relentlessness or single-mindedness that propels others escaped Benzema, leaving behind a striker who's flirted with mastery but hasn't quite got there. 

Not yet, anyway. 

Though Benzema's game might be well understood, his trajectory isn't so clear. At 28, he can still go higher, but for a paradoxical figure, this feels like the fork-in-the-road season that could tell us whether he will. 

For now, he says, he's "back," which is a familiar sight. His challenge now is to be more than familiar.

Follow @TimDCollins