“Winning the Champions League, my 5th, and now arriving in the selection: I am super happy and proud. Besides, the weather is nice.” Arrived around 7:00 p.m. after celebrating his fifth coronation in C1 in Madrid on Sunday, it was a smiling Karim Benzema who took up residence in the Yvelines training center without his teammates, who were in full training at this time. there but were not long in finding him to congratulate him after this new individual and collective consecration.
During the week, reserved for the League of Nations, the Madrid striker may also receive some explanations from Kylian Mbappé, with whom he formed a devastating duo with the Blues this season. Because the decision of “Kyky” to reject the advances of Real to extend to PSG until 2025, after long hesitations, has reshuffled the cards of a relationship so far in good shape. The Madrid player, like several of his Madrid team-mates, reacted to the “non-transfer of the century” by recalling his attachment to Real, posting on Instagram a photo of his finger pointing in the direction of his team’s logo. A second image, with much more commentary, featured the late rapper Tupac Shakur alongside one of his friends suspected of being linked to his assassination… Enough for the Spanish press to see it as a spade addressed to the Parisian on a alleged treason.
“When we see each other, of course we will discuss it. He’s going to ask me why, and I’ll explain it to him. I know he wanted me to come, I will explain to him the why and how”, assured Mbappé in an interview with several media including AFP on May 23, acknowledging that he had “not exchanged” with Benzema on his future. “People said to themselves that in selection we were talking about Real, but no, we were only talking about the evening meal”, added the young 23-year-old Frenchman, rejecting the hypothesis of a reflection carried out in close connection with his teammate in the blue jersey. Benzema also played the appeasement card with his accomplice in the Blues attack on Sunday on the Téléfoot program. “I wish he could fulfill his dream of playing at Real Madrid, being together. He chose PSG, we must respect”, assured the N.19 of the Blues, affirming that he “will take pleasure” in playing with Mbappé in selection. “We’re good friends, it won’t affect our relationship.”
As for Tupac’s photo, “it’s not a betrayal story of so-and-so or so-and-so. If you look at my Instagram, I have 10 or 15 photos of Tupac, who is my favorite (artist). It has nothing to do with football”, he evacuated in the Spanish program El Chiringuito. The two strong men of the tricolor attack will therefore have to be satisfied with an association limited to the rare international gatherings in the coming months, under the watchful eye of coach Didier Deschamps, for whom “the main thing is the unity of the group” . “From my position as coach, I have the players live and I know from A to Z what is going on,” assured the Basque technician. “From each situation, we can all draw conclusions that should not be, because in most cases it is more often a clumsiness, a misunderstanding or an interpretation that does not reflect reality.”
While Mbappé was perceived, from a source close to the France group, as “a facilitator” of Benzema’s return last year to the selection after five years of absence, the June rally, with four matches on the program, will make it possible to measure again the complementarity of the two men on the ground. Because with 14 goals scored between them out of the 26 of the Blues this season, Benzema and Mbappé seem essential on the road to the World Cup in Qatar.
