Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has stated that he is hoping that his international teammate Franck Ribery is not at his best when he comes back against him in the Champions League semi-final. Ribery was not very influential when his Bayern Munich team met Real Madrid in the first leg of the semi-final. Benzema scored the decisive goal, as the Spaniards managed a 1-0 win. However, the victory margin could have been even more decisive had the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel di Maria been more clinical with their finishing.

Ribery, on the other hand, was replaced much earlier than expected, as he did not create a lot of impact. His teammate Arjen Robben was also not great either, as Bayern Munich controlled possession, but they were not able to create much penetration. The second leg is expected to be much different since Guardiola will be making a couple of changes in the hope of getting back into the tie. Further, the team also will be motivated heavily by the home fans behind them. Due to these advantages, Bayern Munich are the favourites for the return leg.

Ahead of the match, Benzema has stated that he is hoping that Ribery has one of his off days like he had last week.

“The team. All of the team has to be strong. Franck Ribery is a really great player and I hope he doesn’t have his best day. I don’t know if it will be decisive. It’s true he knows the team well, but we also know how he prepares his sides. We are very focused and we’ll give everything to win this game. There isn’t a special plan. We know how they play, they like to have the ball and take their time to attack. We are very fast. A win is essential for us,” said Benzema.

There was a time not so long back when Real Madrid fans used to be glad to know that their team was going to be up against Atletico Madrid and the main reason behind that was Los Blancos’ domination during the Madrid derbies, but, in the last one year or so, things have changed. The Madrid derbies have no longer remained one sided.

Since the arrival of impact players like Diego Costa, Atletico have gone from strength to strength and they have now become a side which possess the capability of beating Real Madrid. They have done that twice in the recent times and they would have the chance to do it again as they take on their local rivals this weekend in the first leg of the Copa Del Rey semi final.

The match will take place at Santiago Bernabeu. So, Real Madrid would definitely have slight advantage as they would have the crowd right behind them, but, they are not the favourites; that’s for sure. They don’t have as many in form players as Atletico have at this point of time.

However, the availability of Gareth Bale for the game is a positive thing for Real. The Wales international has recently regained complete fitness, but, he hasn’t had much training under his belt. So, whether to get him into the match day squad or not, that would be a big call for the Real management.

Injury has consistently troubled Bale since the time he has made his way to Spain. He could have made a lot more appearances for Real by now if his fitness had been good.
The winger has so far played only 22 matches for the Spanish giants in which he has found the net 10 times.

Real Madrid’s Karin Benzema is on the radar Arsenal as the Premier League club is still trying to find a player that can go alongside Giroud in the pitch. Although a move for the 26 years old Frenchman might be harder to get considering that Benzema is a regular starter for Ancelotti.

Not only that but Benzema seems to be happy playing in Real Madrid as he is playing an important role for Real Madrid and their journey to dethrone Barcelona in La Liga as well as helping the Spanish titans on winning the Champions League.

The Frenchman recently talked about the 2014 World Cup as France was pitted in a group against Honduras, Switzerland and Ecuador. Benzema said that playing in a competition such as the World Cup is the best thing that can happen to anyone in their career as he spoke to the media.

‘’For a player being able to participate in a World Cup is the single best thing that can occur in his career. It is a chance to play at a higher level and with the best players in the world, it’s a dream’’.
‘’I think it is not going to be an easy group as every team and nation have different playing styles. We will do everything we can to advance into the next stages. It is true that we had luck in being placed into this group. This will be my 1st World Cup and in a country like Brazil, I am sure it will be special and different than many others’’

‘’We will have to face off against good teams. We have to play our very best football if we really want to get as far as possible. I wish good luck to my teammates of Real Madrid who will also be fighting with their fellow national teams and hopefully one of us will be the next champions’’. Benzema said.

Real Madrid are planning a January swoop for Liverpool striker Luis Suarez and will offer French striker Karim Benzema and £ 20 million in cash to bring the player to the Santiago Bernabeu, it has been revealed.

The Uruguayan international striker still wants a move away from Merseyside in spite of the impressive start that Liverpool have made to the Premier League campaign and clubs are circling over the player with reports suggesting Arsenal will also slap in a bid for the player in January after failing to land him in the summer.

But the Uruguayan still has his heart set on a move to the Spanish giants under Carlo Ancelotti, and the nine times European Cup winners believe a big name player along with a huge cash offer will tempt the English giants to part with their star striker.

Madrid value the Frenchman Karim Benzema at £ 20 million and the offer of another £ 20 million in cash makes the deal worth £ 40 million, which is reported to be the release clause for the player. Arsenal failed with a cheeky bid of £ 40 million and a quid for the player in the summer with the club blasting their Premier League rivals for disrespecting them and the player but Real think Liverpool will not have any qualms about selling their top scorer to a club in another country, provided they are adequately reimbursed for it.

However, the one potential stumbling block that Madrid might have in making the deal happen is convincing Karim Benzema to make the switch to Liverpool, who does not play in the UEFA Champions League. But they are also said to be readying a contingency plan of a full cash offer if the player does decide against moving to the fallen giants of English football.

The agent of France international striker Karim Benzema has categorically denied that the player is angling for a move away from the club, amid speculation about a transfer to Italian giants AC Milan. It had been reported that the seven time European champions were preparing a massive bid to bring the Frenchman to Italy, preparing a high pay package as well as the lure of regular first team football but his agent has stated that he knows nothing of this speculated bid.

Karim Djaziri, Benzema’s agent also stated that he had not been contacted by AC Milan officials about any kind of deal between the two parties and after the player was named in squad to travel to the United States of America for the Guinness International Champions Cup, Djaziri insists that there is no way that Karim Benzema will be leaving the club this summer at least.

According to the Frenchman’s agent, the striker still has a long term contract with the club and he is not seeking a move, especially after the appointment of a new manager which gives him the chance to prove himself once again to him and get into the first team on a regular basis. Speaking to reporters in Spain about a potential transfer to Milan, his agent stated that Benzema is staying with Madrid, adding that there is absolutely nothing with Milan and there is nothing more to say at this moment.

Karim Benzema joined the capital giants from French club Lyon for a massive fee back in 2009 and has been linked with a swap deal with Liverpool for Luis Suarez as well, as Madrid try and thrash out a deal for the Uruguayan striker. But nothing has been mentioned of that deal as well and it seems he will stay in Madrid.

The striker of Real Madrid, Karim Benzema, has made it clear that he is not going to join Manchester United.

There have been speculations in the last couple of weeks that Benzema is on the radar of the new United manager David Moyes and he might be moving to England this summer. But, those speculations have been denied by the 25 years old French striker.

Talking to the correspondent of a Spanish newspaper, Benzema said, “I am not planning to make a move this summer. I will continue playing for Real Madrid. I have no reason to leave at the moment. I am quite happy playing for them.”

The performance of Real Madrid wasn’t that good in the last season. They didn’t win even a single title in the entire season. They finished the La Liga season at no. 2 with 85 points in 38 matches. They remained 15 points behind the title winners Barcelona.

Real Madrid couldn’t do well in the Champions League either. They were knocked out of the semi finals by the German club Borussia Dortmund. They lost the first leg by a huge margin of 1-4. Although, they bounced back to win the return leg by 2-0, but, that was not enough to wipe out the deficit.

Real Madrid lost the final of Copa Del Rey as well. They got beaten by the arch-rivals Atletico Madrid by 1-2.

When asked about the performance of Real Madrid in the last season, Benzema said, “It was not the best of the seasons for us. In big matches, we couldn’t do well under pressure and let the supporters down. But, that’s life. It can’t go our way every season. I just want the fans to keep backing us. We will bounce back hard next season.”

The French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has backed the Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema to find the back of the net in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. The former Lyon striker has come under intense criticism from the French media after failing to score in the last 11 matches.

France will be taking on the current world and European champions Spain in a crucial World Cup qualifying match. After the recent round of matches, France have been able to take the lead ahead of Spain in the group stage, which would allow them to qualify automatically for the World Cup.

Spain would have to go through the play-offs despite being the current world champions if the group stages finished as it is. Hence, there is a lot of impetus for France to extend the lead even further, but there is a section of fans who believe that Benzema should not be taking part in the match due to his poor form for the national team. The Tottenham goalkeeper Lloris, though, has backed Benzema to find the back of the net against Spain. He expects him to completely overcome the delicate situation. Lloris has said that they have to be prepared extremely well ahead of the match with Spain.

“There is no problem with Benzema in the team. We respect him. We are here to help him overcome this delicate moment. We have prepared in the best way possible and are very conscious of the importance of the game. We need the team to respond. We are facing the best team in the world. We are going to suffer but we know we can pose Spain problems. We hope to finish the game without any regrets,” said Lloris. After failing to establish himself in the Tottenham first-team in the first half of the season, Lloris has been the stand out performer for the Premier league club in recent months.

Real Madrid has defeated Valencia in a Copa Del Rey clash played at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday. Madrid won the match by 2-0. Although, the margin of the victory suggests that the match was one side but, it’s not the true story. Valencia put up a gutsy performance, but, Madrid proved to be too good for them at the end.

Madrid lost a few opportunities at the start. Jose Mourinho’s team got a couple of free kicks in the first seven minutes. Cristiano Ronaldo took both those free kicks, but, he didn’t manage to place his shot well on either of them.

Madrid had another chance to take the lead when Karim Benzema had given Luka Modric a fantastic pass and Modric had enough time to get into the right position and slot the ball into the net, but, the Croatian midfielder failed in doing that. His shot went wide of the net and another chance went begging.

Madrid eventually managed to take the lead in the 37th minute of the match. It was Benzema who took his team ahead. He got Sami Khedira’s pass outside the box. He controlled it and then, beat a couple of Valencia players to make his way into the box before firing it into the net from a close distance. It was a fine strike by the French striker.

The score became 2-0 in the favour of Madrid in the 73rd minute of the match courtesy of an own goal from Jose Andres Guardado.

The Valencia team earned a free kick just a couple of minutes before the end of the game. Daniel Parejo took that free kick, but, he wasted the opportunity by smashing the ball over the head of his teammates.

Valencia didn’t get any more chance after that and ended up losing the match.
These two teams will again take on each other in a La Liga clash on Sunday at Estadio Mastalla.

The Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has said that his best is yet to come for the Spanish club despite being one of the best players for the club in the recent 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao. Real Madrid are looking to catch up Barcelona in the table, and they trail the Catalan club by a mammoth eight points. Karim Benzema was the star of the win over Athletic Bilbao, as he helped them by scoring one goal and creating two assists. Benzema was just returning from a small period on the sidelines, but has said that it was not his best performance yet.

The striker has said that it was definitely one of his best games in a Real Madrid shirt, but not the best because there have been more decisive appearances. Benzema was playing in his first match after 15 days out with an injury problem. He has been largely overshadowed by the Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain, who has managed to score seven goals in the league alone. Karim Benzema still has a long way to go before matching the records of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who are approaching the 20-goal mark already. Last season, Benzema was one of the top scorers of the Real Madrid team. He is yet to hit the ground running this time around.

"I cannot say that this was my best match for Real Madrid, because I have been more decisive in the past. The most important thing is that I felt well on the pitch after 15 days on the sidelines. My best has yet to come. What's important is that the great Real Madrid of last season is back again. We did some wonderful things," said Benzema. Real Madrid find themselves in the third position behind Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in the table.

The Real Madrid striker, Karim Benzema, has said that he has no idea why Cristiano Ronaldo is sad these days.
After Madrid’s match against Granada, Ronaldo had rattled the management staff of Madrid by saying that he is a bit upset at the moment and the club is quite aware of the reason why he is upset. However, Ronaldo had clearly said that his wages are not the reason of his unhappiness.

When Benzema was asked about Ronaldo’s sadness, he said, “Ronaldo is a very good friend of mine. We have been playing alongside each other since the last three years and we tend to talk to each other a lot. But, he hasn’t told me about the reason of his sadness. With me, he is quite normal and so is he with the other guys as well. But, I got surprised when he didn’t celebrate those two goals. There might be some serious reason behind it. But, whatever it is, I want this issue to be resolved quickly so that he could concentrate on his game.”

However, that so called ‘sadness’ didn’t seem to have affected Ronaldo’s game even a single bit. The Portuguese superstar scored two goals against Granada and then, scored the match winning goal in the Champions League match against Manchester City in the last minute.

Benzema who also found the net for Madrid against Manchester City got excited when asked about that match. The French international said, “It was a thriller. It was certainly one of the greatest matches that I have ever played in my career. The level of intensity of the players in the last 10 minutes was just terrific. It was good that we ended up on the winning side, but, that match could have gone either way.”

Real Madrid will now take on Rayo Vallecano in a La Liga match on 24th of September.