BENZEMA PUTS IT BEHIND HIM

French international and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has said that the club are now behind the disappointment of exiting the Champions League on penalties. Bayern Munich managed to knock out Real Madrid on penalties after the 3-3 aggregate draw.

Ronaldo scored the two goals for Real Madrid in the second leg, while Arjen Robben scored from the penalty spot for Bayern Munich. It meant that Real Madrid have now been eliminated from the Champions League in the semi-final stage in the past two seasons. Despite this, they still have the league title to look forward to according to Karim Benzema.

The French international has been a revelation for Real Madrid this season. José Mourinho has often used Karim Benzema for the big matches this season, which has meant that Gonzalo Higuain has been relegated to the bench. The Argentine is expected to leave the club in the summer, which will pave way for Karim Benzema to establish himself in the Real Madrid team. After his early doubts, the French international seems to be coming of age and is having a lot of matured performances in the all-white strips of Real Madrid.

“We got to the semi-final with high hopes and were so close to the final, but these things happen. I think we have learned from it, though, and now we need to win the league to get over the disappointment. It is now very close and we must be happy about that because from early on in the season, the league was our priority. On Wednesday and Thursday nights after the Bayern defeat, we were all sad and dejected by our elimination, but this sadness has now been put to one side,” Benzema said in an interview with AS. Benzema is expected to lead France’s attack at the Euro 2012.