Karim Benzema opens up about his five-year absence from the French national team | OneFootball

Karim Benzema is possibly the most in-form footballer in Europe right now. The French centre-forward is on fire, lethal in the final third both with Real Madrid and the French national team.

The former are top of La Liga at the time of writing while the latter just tasted success in the Nations League, beating La Roja in the final at San Siro.

Benzema has nine goals and seven assists to his name in eight league appearances for Madrid, the kind of numbers usually reserved only for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Benzema has stepped up to the plate at the Santiago Bernabeu since the latter departed in the summer of 2018, and now that Messi is in France with Paris Saint-Germain he’s become, arguably, the face of domestic Spanish football.

Last season he scored 23 goals and provided nine assists in La Liga, numbers he’s on course to breaking based on his trajectory so far in 2021/22. For the man himself, such recognition is the fruits of many years of hard labour.

“It means a lot to me,” Benzema said in comments carried by Marca when asked about the Nations League triumph. “I’m very proud of my work after five years without a national team. It’s been very hard work physically and mentally and I’m looking forward to continuing to work to win titles.”