Karim Benzema gets better every day like wine, admits Carlo Ancelotti

Karim Benzema continued his fantastic goalscoring form this season as he scored a hat-trick against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday. The European champions will travel to the Santiago Bernabeu next week for the second leg of the contest as they look to overturn a two-goal deficit to have any chance of retaining their crown this season.

The odds are stacked against Chelsea historically with just one of the previous 43 sides who trailed by two or more goals in a Champions League knockout tie overturning such a deficit away from home in the competition's history.

Benzema’s goal-scoring performance and overall play handed his team the decisive advantage and the Frenchman made history as he became just the fourth player in Champions League history to score back-to-back hat-tricks in the competition following his hattrick against Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round.

 Madrid manager Ancelotti praised the French striker for his impact while also highlighting the other traits that set him apart from the rest.

"Benzema is a really complete - not striker - player. He gets better every day, like wine. Every day he becomes an even better leader, and feels more how important he is for the team and for the club. I think this is what is making the difference with him, he has a stronger personality now, he knows he is a very important player and that's why he is an example for everybody,” Ancelotti told BT Sport.

"He scores a lot of goals and this is really important, but he helps the team a lot in possession. He is always in the right position. We are really happy and lucky to have him,” he added.