Delighted with an adaptation "made super quickly" and an "easy" relationship with Kylian Mbappé, the Ballon d'Or present "in the back of his mind", Karim Benzema feels a positive "atmosphere" around him since his return to the France team, he said this Friday in an interview with AFP.
After a first gallop during France - Wales on Wednesday in Nice (3-0), Benzema rubs his hands at the idea of once again reforming their attacking trio with his comrades Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann.
B • L • E • U • S - "Preparation"
[Season 1 - Episode 1] #FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/4uAAjx78z6
- French team ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) June 4, 2021
“For his young age, he can do everything, he said about the Bondynois of PSG.
These are the players I love, who know how to play with one touch, take depth.
Agile, fast, efficient.
We haven't played a lot together but in training we look for each other, it's easy.
He knows how to play football and it is very important to have him.
"
Linked to Real Madrid until June 2022, Benzema appreciates Mbappé to the point that he would gladly make a club partner of him ... “All the great players want to come to Real Madrid one day so I wish him that it be done quickly, in any case if he wants to leave PSG which is a good team too. "
Discover Karim @Benzema's reaction to the Blues' 3-0 victory against Wales in a preparatory match for Euro 2020 #FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/4rketI4qn8
- French team ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) June 2, 2021
The former Lyonnais is also laudatory towards Griezmann.
"I think that at this level, you cannot step on your toes, it is not possible," he said of his Barcelona counterpart.
He plays for Barça, I play for Real, we have enough technique and vision not to step on each other.
Of course, we like to have the ball in our feet, but we can go deep too, we can move.
The most important thing is not to be both in the same place.
"
Benzema does not even blame Griezmann for the poisoned gift which consisted in letting him take the penalty against the Welsh, missed by the Madrilenian: “Everyone misses penalties.
Find me a player who won't miss one!
It's nothing, it's a friendly match, I'm going to work on them more and more.
It is not a problem.
What can be a problem is not having chances and shooting zero times on goal.
Creating opportunities, keeping up with the tempo, that's what it takes ... "
"What is happening around me is perfect"
Obviously more smiling, more complicit and open than five years ago, Benzema puts these changes on the account of maturity: “Already, I am not the same age quite simply.
I am the father of a family.
It's different.
For me, the most important thing is to be good on the pitch, calm, in a good mood, always. ”
He says he was sensitive to the large buzz that his return to the France group aroused: “I had very good feedback, and I can feel the atmosphere, what is happening around me is perfect.
It allows me to be very focused on what I have to do on the pitch, because that's the most important. ”
Finally, the n ° 19 of the Blues makes no secret of his Ballon d'Or ambitions, intact: “It's always in my head. How to earn it afterwards? This is what you have to put as a question in your head. It goes through big competitions, big matches. Having it in the back of your mind is good, it allows you to motivate yourself even more on a field. "
