Article
23 May 2012
Javier Garcia / Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell
Real Madrid have one of the most efficient attacking trios in football history. Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain have tallied 118 goals this season, improving on last year's 92 strikes by a long way. They have a better tally than the club's attacking front that won five European Cup titles and the legendary Quinta del Buitre.
It has taken more than 50 years for Real Madrid to come up with an attacking trio more efficient than the one led by Di Stefano and Puskas in the late 1950s and early 1960s, which has six places on the ranking of Real Madrid's best all-time attacking fronts.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 60 strikes in the 2011/12 campaign, seven more than last season, while Benzema and Higuain tallied 32 and 26, respectively. Never before had three Real Madrid strikers scored 20 or more goals each in one season.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Higuain have been most efficient together in La Liga. They coincided in 31 matches and scored 69 strikes (2.2 per clash). They've been part of the starting lineup together six times, in which they tallied 20 goals (3.3 per match); the team earned five victories and one draw in those six games, and the three of them scored in three of them.
| GOALS NETTED BY REAL'S THREE STRIKERS IN 2011/12 CAMPAIGN | |||||
| Player | La Liga | UCL | Copa del Rey | S. S. Cup | Total |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 46 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 60 |
| Benzema | 21 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 32 |
| Higuain | 22 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 26 |
| Total | 89 | 20 | 7 | 2 | 118 |
| TOP SCORING REAL MADRID ATTACKING TRIOS | |||
| Season | Players (goals) | Total | |
| 2011/12 | Cristiano (60), Benzema (32), Higuain (26) | 118 | |
| 1959/60 | Puskas (49), Di Stefano (24), Pepillo (22) | 95 | |
| 2010/11 | Cristiano (53), Benzema (26), Higuain (13) | 92 | |
| 1960/61 | Puskas (41), Di Stefano (29), Del Sol (18) | 88 | |
| 1961/62 | Puskas (40), Di Stefano (22), Tejada (20) | 82 | |
| 1932/33 | Olivares (39), Regueiro (24), Hilario (19) | 82 | |
| 1956/57 | Di Stefano (43), Joseito (17), Mateos (17) | 77 | |
| 1988/89 | Hugo Sanchez (37), Butragueño (22), Michel (15) | 74 | |
| 1957/58 | Di Stefano (36), Rial (22), Marsal (15) | 73 | |
| 1958/59 | Di Stefano (34), Puskas (25), Rial (13) | 72 | |
| GAME SIN WHICH RONALDO, BENZEMA AND HIGUAIN STARTED | |||||
| W | Match | Goals | |||
| 18 | R. Madrid 5-1 Granada | Benzema (2), Ramos, Higuain, Ronaldo | |||
| 23 | R. Madrid 4-2 Levante | Ronaldo (3), Benzema | |||
| 30 | R. Madrid 5-1 R. Sociedad | Higuain, Ronaldo (2), Benzema (2) | |||
| 31 | Osasuna 1-5 R. Madrid | Benzema, Ronaldo (2), Higuain (2) | |||
| 32 | R. Madrid 0-0 Valencia | ||||
| 38 | R. Madrid 4-1 Mallorca | Ronaldo, Benzema, Ozil (2) | |||