Very close during their first months together in the French team,
Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappé no longer show the same complicity. But that does not prevent the 2022 Ballon d’Or from speaking out about the current performance of his former teammate. To the point, even, of distilling some advice for the rest of his adventure at Real Madrid.
According to Karim Benzema, Mbappé must not disperse his game. A remark that applies to all offensive stars. “What they’re missing is just a connection, explained the French striker in an interview with L’Équipe. Enter (Kylian) Mbappé, Vinicius, (Jude) Bellingham, Rodrygo. Everyone must know what to do on the ground. Bellingham needs to understand that he is the playmaker, not the scorer. Mbappé is the scorer, not the playmaker. Vinicius is not the 6, he is the left winger. As long as everyone knows what they have to do on the ground, it’s over. Because here, we’re still talking about guys who are in the ten best players in the world, and they’re all on the same team.. »
“They took it for the hot times”
Benzema, however, recognizes that Mbappé has everything to write his legend in Madrid. “He scores a lot of goals and he will continue to score them, as he did at PSG. But the most important thing for Mbappé is that Real took him so that at key moments, he made his team win. And he is capable of it. It is this pressure that he must take, and take this small step as an attacking leader. Because he is the one who must take Real Madrid to the trophies. Be careful, not alone, with others. That’s why I talked about connection (…) I’m talking about moments when there is a match that the team is obliged to win. It’s hot! It’s for those moments. They took him for that. He has the ability to do it, I wish him success. »
