Zinedine Zidane: Karim Benzema is the greatest French forward of all time

Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane believes Karim Benzema is the best French forward of all time.

The 32-year-old scored two crucial goals on Tuesday night to give Madrid a 3-1 win over Athletic Club and move Los Blancos level on points with Real Sociedad and Atlético Madrid at the top of LaLiga.

“For me, yes,” Zidane replied after the game when asked if Benzema was the best French striker in history. “In addition to what he does, what he shows, he has been at Real Madrid for a long time. More than 500 games, all the goals he’s scored, his record speaks for itself. For me, he’s the best. It is very clear.”

He is a more complete player now than he used to be. He is not a pure No. 9, he doesn’t only think about scoring goals and that’s what I love about him. He loves to combine with his teammates and create chances for them but he also knows how to score goals and he does that when the team needs him the most like he did today. That’s what Karim is all about,” Zidane added.

Benzema has scored 27 goals in 81 appearances for France but hasn’t represented his country since 2015 following an incident with former teammate Mathieu Valbuena.

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