Real Madrid star Karim Benzema has explained why he went for the Panenka penalty against Manchester City after missing two spot-kicks in his previous game.
Los Blancos kept themsleves in the UEFA CHampions League semi-final tie despite going down 4-3 to the Citizens at the Etihad.
Benzema ensured the his side will head back to Madrid with just a one-goal deficit after scoring with a cheeky Panenka in the last eight minutes.
After missing two penalties against Osasuna last week, the Frenchman claims he had a lot of confidence in himself to pull off something so big at a crucial stage.
“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,” Benzema said, as per Sky Sports.
Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti claims the penalty showed strong character from his talisman, who moved on to 41 goals for the season.
“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.” -kickoff
