Once fierce rivals in their La Liga days with Real Madrid and Barcelona, star strikers Karim Benzema and Lionel Messi have always shared a mutual respect for each other off-field. While the French international continues his stint with current La Liga leaders Real Madrid, the Argentine superstar swapped Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the summer, bringing an end to his iconic spell at Camp Nou.
Messi’s form has been questioned this season, as things haven’t worked out exactly how he would have planned at PSG. He has just scored once for the Ligue 1 giants in 11 appearances, however, the generational footballer netted five in as many games in the Champions League so far.
Despite the struggles of Messi to find his best form, his Real Madrid counterpart has not only shown respect for his fierce rival but also slammed those who criticised the Argentine legend.
Speaking in an interview with French TV station Telefoot, Benzema thinks the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi is merely going through a rough patch at PSG.
‘How won’t he succeed? It is just a period of adaptation, because he is not scoring a lot of goals,’ the 34-year-old told TF1.
“But look at what he does on the pitch,” he said, defending him further. “In any case you cannot criticise a player like that. He who criticises Messi, knows nothing about football,” he added.
Benzema and Messi will come up against each other next month when PSG lock horns with Real Madrid
in the round 16 of the Champions League. The Spanish giants will travel to the Parc des Princes on February 16, the reverse clash will be hosted at the Bernabeu on March 10.
Meanwhile, PSG continued their winning ways in the French league, they cruised to 4-0 victory over Reims on Sunday to restore their lead to 11 points. Goals from Marco Verratti, fresh marquee signing Sergio Ramos and Danilo Pereira netted one each, while Reims’ Wout Fous’ own goal helped their cause at the Parc des Princes on Sunday night.
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