Karim Benzema urged Real Madrid to follow the current model at Paris Saint-Germain, and spoke about his experience playing for Cristiano Ronaldo at the Bernabéu.
The French star is a Real Madrid legend, having contributed to numerous titles from 2009 until his departure in 2022. He scored 354 goals and provided 158 assists in 648 appearances across all competitions.
Benzema criticizes the current situation at Real Madrid
Benzema compared the current situation at Paris Saint-Germain under Luis Enrique to the Real Madrid team he considers completely different from the one he played for.
The 38-year-old said, “At Paris Saint-Germain, you field your starting lineup, they play and play… then the coach makes a substitution in the 60th or 70th minute, and the substitutes contribute even more than the starters. And they’re supposed to be substitutes, can you believe that? Everyone there knows what they have to do and what they have to contribute.”
He added, “The starter knows his role, and so does the substitute, and those on the bench don’t get angry. Right now, they have a team without stars—except for Ousmane Dembélé, who won the Ballon d’Or—but that doesn’t matter.”
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He continued, “They press, they defend, and they attack. The most famous person at Paris Saint-Germain is Luis Enrique, but it’s a real team. Whoever you put up front, everyone works together, and the substitutes perform as well as the starters, and that’s the secret to their strength.”
“Things are more complicated at Madrid because the team doesn’t play as a unit,” he continued. “The club is suffering today because it doesn’t play as a team. I will shine, no problem with that, but without you (as a team), I can’t shine.”
Benzema: I played for Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid
Benzema spoke about his time at Real Madrid during Cristiano Ronaldo time there until his departure in 2018, indicating that he played entirely for the Portuguese star, regardless of his own statistics.
The current Al-Hilal star said in this regard, “Playing alongside Cristiano was a good thing. I learned a lot from him: movement inside the penalty area, pressing.”
He continued, “This guy was scoring 50 goals a season. And even though I was playing for him, I really learned a lot.”
Some might see the phrase “playing for him” as a veiled criticism from Benzema towards Ronaldo, considering that Karim had to relinquish his leading role to Cristiano to help him achieve his record-breaking numbers and shine to the fullest.
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Despite this, Benzema has never shown any resentment towards Ronaldo and has never hesitated to do the “hard work” for his teammate. These are lessons that both Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Junior need to revisit, reflecting on the experience of Real Madrid legends during their “historic treble-winning” era and keeping Benzema’s advice in mind.
Will Benzema return to the French national team?
Zinedine Zidane is expected to take over as coach of the French national team after the 2026 World Cup, and his close relationship with Benzema is well-known, raising questions about the possibility of the former Al-Ittihad star returning to Les Bleus.
Benzema responded to this by saying, “If I continue to perform well and maintain my fitness, no one knows what might happen.”
He added, “If there’s a place for me, what’s stopping me? I’m doing everything I can to stay in top form.”
Benzema had started this season with Al-Ittihad, before moving to Al-Hilal last winter, and overall he scored 24 goals and made 4 assists in 29 matches across all competitions.
