Benzema on Zidane: “He won’t go, you’ll see”

Karim Benzema spoke to French magazine L’Equipe in what was in a lot of ways the kick-off to his return to the French National team. Benzema spoke about his conversation with French manager Didier Deschamps, his return to France, and also his relationship with real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane.

Benzema said that he felt “shock” when he heard he was being recalled to France for the Euros despite having a pleasant conversation with Deschamps prior.

“It was a special day,” Benzema said. “I received a lot of messages, there were rumours. I was waiting like everyone else, in front of the TV. I was really happy... It happened really fast, it was a feeling of joy and pride. I remembered all the moments when I never gave up. It was a little shock, it’s been a long time!”

“Deschamps didn’t tell me,” Benzema continued, discussing his surprise. “We talked a lot, it was a long conversation, but he never said to me: ‘You’ll be at the Euros.’ The only thing he said was that we’d taken a big step together and that we’d see.

“We were face-to-face. We hadn’t seen each other since 2015. It was good to talk, I’ve always gotten on well with him, after three minutes everything was back to normal.”

From a Real Madrid perspective, the most interesting part of the interview was when he spoke about Zidane’s future.

“He’s coach of Real Madrid right now, isn’t he? I don’t see him leaving,” Benzema said.

“He won’t go, you’ll see. If he goes, he goes, but right now I don’t see Madrid without Zidane.

“He’s always been honest with me. He’s very open. That’s why I respect him so much, he’s very direct with me. He’s my coach but he’s also like an older brother.”