Karim Benzema in champions league

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema seems to reach a new level whenever he hears the Champions League anthem. He knows that the competition is viewed the world over and consistently performs to the best of his ability, which is reinforced by his impressive statistics.

The Frenchman's most stunning performances have always been in this competition, providing him with a more than respectable goal average of 0.57 per game after 37 goals in 65 outings which is bettered by very few players.

Out of the plethora of top strikers competing in the Champions League, currently only Robert Lewandowski's 17 goals in 29 games (0.58), Cristiano Ronaldo's 68 in 104 (0.65) and Lionel Messi's 67 in 87 (0.77) stand above Benzema's goal per game average.

Deadly strikers such as Ibra (0.39), Müller (0.35), Totti (0.29), Drogba (0.47) and Agüero (0.43) all have inferior averages compared with the Real Madrid number 9. The same can be said about some other proven goalscorers in European competition whose sides have not qualified for this year's competition such as Rooney (0.35), Van Persie (0.42), Torres (0.36) and Higuaín (0.23).

Benzema has scored 25 times for 'los Blancos' in Europe's premier club competition since joining the club in 2009. His debut came in the 2005-06 campaign aged just 17 and he has not stopped scoring since. Now the 26-year-old is enjoying his tenth consecutive Champions League campaign, and although he has scored in every single one of them, there are no signs of the striker getting bored with terrorising defences all over the continent.