Karim Benzema completed his 14 years at Real Madrid on a high note after scoring a penalty in their 1-1 LaLiga season-ending draw with Athletic Bilbao.
The Real star duly scored his 354th goal for the club amid emotional scenes on Sunday after the French striker announced he would be leaving the Bernabeu this summer.
Two minutes later, as he got ready to go to Saudi Arabia, he was taken out to a thunderous standing ovation.
Despite Benzema scoring his 31st goal of the year, Real's tie caused them to finish third in the standings, behind Atletico Madrid and their rivals.
Four minutes after halftime, Oihan Sancet gave Bilbao the lead after Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had already saved a penalty shot from Mikel Vesga.
Al-Ittihad, who finished five points ahead of Al-Nassr, a team that also contains former teammate of Benzema Cristiano Ronaldo, just won the Saudi Pro League championship.
Only his former teammate Ronaldo has scored more goals for Los Blancos overall than Benzema, who has made almost 600 appearances across all competitions.
In 2009, Benzema was acquired by then-Madrid manager Manuel Pellegrini for £30 million, following a couple of successful seasons with Lyon in Ligue 1.
The young player originally found it difficult to keep down a spot in the team's star-studded starting XI, but he eventually developed into a crucial component of Real Madrid's domination in the 2010s and beyond, taking home every trophy available to him.
The 2021–22 season saw Benzema score 44 goals, a career high, in 46 games, making him the oldest Ballon d'Or winner since Stanley Matthews. He also won his fifth Champions League title that year, a joint-record.
Despite having had his most recent season cut short by injuries, the seasoned forward nevertheless managed 18 La Liga goals in 23 appearances for Carlo Ancelotti's team, who are presently second in the league.
The captain also made an impact in the Copa del Rey, where he scored a hat-trick and provided an assist in a 4-0 victory over Barcelona in the second leg of the semifinals to overturn a 1-0 deficit, and then played the whole 90 minutes in the victory over Osasuna.
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