In a team packed with the world's most revered superstars, it feels slightly strange that Karim Benzema is Real Madrid's undisputed first-choice centre-forward.
It's not that Benzema isn't a fine footballer; he's just not a genuine superstar. This is a club that relishes big-name players more than any other, routinely buying the World Cup's best performer (Ronaldo, Fabio Cannavaro, Mesut Ozil, James Rodriguez after the past four) because there's a fetish for the glamour of big signings.
Real's squad is absurdly expensive, packed with quality footballers throughout to the extent that players like Fabio Coentrao, Raphael Varane and Isco are probably only substitutes when everyone is fit. Keylor Navas was the best goalkeeper in La Liga last season, but he can't get a look despite Iker Casillas' questionable form.
They also boast the two most expensive footballers in the world, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, and Benzema plays between them, tasked with sacrificing himself for the good of the team.
In the past, Real have discovered that it's difficult to create an entire first XI (or, at least, an entire midfield and attack) out of superstars. Florentino Perez's previous reign started to unravel when he famously replaced Claude Makelele with David Beckham, robbing the side of its defensive midfield presence. Nowadays, Real get away with having a superstar in that zone, thanks to Toni Kroos' positional intelligence. Behind two of Luka Modric, James Rodriguez and Isco, it creates a midfield trio based heavily around ball retention, with Ronaldo and Bale providing the counterattacking speed out wide.
Then there's Benzema. In a sense, Benzema is now playing the role once filled by Makelele. Not literally -- they couldn't be more different in terms of position -- but Benzema is the solid, reliable player whom others pivot around, the one happy to do the dirty work and allow others to shine. It's difficult to remember Benzema being Real's best player in a game this season, yet, perhaps more than ever, his position in the side isn't in doubt.
The Frenchman must now be considered something of a survivor. Under Jose Mourinho, Real's usual formation usually involved Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira deep in midfield, Ronaldo, Ozil and Angel Di Maria breaking forward higher up the pitch, and either Benzema or Gonzalo Higuain up front. Ozil, Alonso and Di Maria were sold to make room for others, Khedira will depart this summer, and Benzema saw off the challenge of Higuain.
Only Benzema and Ronaldo remain key players, and now in his sixth season, an unusually long period for an attacker at Real, the French striker has played more games and scored more goals (and at a better rate) than Fernando Morientes, who excelled up front for the club at the turn of the century.
The key is the fact that Benzema works; he has worked hard off the pitch, and he works hard on it too. Categorising Benzema as a hard-working, selfless team player feels somewhat strange, considering in his early years he was considered an aloof, disinterested and distant figure. At the international level, Benzema fell out with teammates (particularly Makelele), who considered him arrogant, while Jose Mourinho was frustrated by his laziness, barracking Benzema for regularly turning up to training still half-asleep and memorably criticising him in public saying that with his hunting dog (Higuain) out injured, he would have to pick the cat (Benzema) instead.
Slowly, Benzema began to wake up. One of the key reasons for his progression was the input of Zinedine Zidane. Benzema idolised Zidane as a child; the 1998 World Cup was the first he remembers, when Zidane's two headers won the trophy for France in Paris.
"It was just a pleasure to watch him with the ball. He could do things that most only dream of," Benzema once said. "What he achieved with Real Madrid, and of course the French national team, was incredible. We speak on the phone, and he is a great influence for me. It is nice for me to know his door at Madrid is always open."
Others at Real Madrid found it difficult to communicate with Benzema in his first 18 months at the club, not least because he skipped Spanish homework, leaving him unable to communicate with his teammates. He used to hear the others laughing and joking around him and nervously wondered whether they were mocking him.
Zidane, however, made him more professional. He encouraged Benzema to brush up on his language skills and enjoy a quiet social life and also advised him on fitness. In 2011, at Zidane's recommendation, Benzema spent the summer at a health club in the French mountains, eating a specially designed diet that enabled him to lose around seven kilograms. Benzema previously seemed a little dumpy, sluggish with his movement. Now he is lean, hard-working and mobile.
In particular, Benzema's movement has improved. He previously used to be static, standing and waiting for the ball in a central position. These days he drifts toward the ball, drags opponents out of position and creates space for Ronaldo to sprint into. Benzema is usually in inside-left positions, in order to combine with Real's main man.
Nevertheless, it still feels like Benzema needs to turn in an outstanding performance on the highest stage to be recognised as one of the world's best attackers. He has tended to score plenty against weaker sides in the Champions League before drying up in the biggest games; only a winner against Bayern Munich last season stands out as a particularly memorable goal. Similarly, he netted against Honduras and Switzerland in the group stage at last summer's World Cup but failed to score in the knockout stage against Nigeria (when played on the left) or Germany.
He's not a flat-track bully (with a decent record against Barcelona), but he does need to perform more reliably in big matches. Maybe that's what Benzema is lacking and why he doesn't have the aura of a superstar. He lacks that one, defining moment that neatly incapsulates his qualities.
Nevertheless, that's not what his role is about. Real's quiet, reliable decoy forward is tasked with maximising the qualities of others, and he is doing that job better than ever.