Zinedine Zidane reacted very sensitively to criticism of his team's forward Karim Benzema, who received negative feedback from former England international striker Gary Lineker.
K. Benzema caught G. Lineker's attention last Tuesday when he failed to score in several fantastic opportunities against London's Tottenham and played a draw.
G. Lineker wrote on his Twitter account: "I just don't understand - is it me or is Benzema a bit overrated in football? Scoring against teams that are not as strong as 'Real' is really nothing special. He's just not that great."
However, the head coach of Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane, has a different opinion and disagrees with G. Lineker's criticism:
"Karim is one of the best number 9's in the world. I'm ashamed of what some people in football say. Benzema has everything as a player. Of course, he has room for improvement, but the most important thing is that he understands this and tries to overcome these problems.
Some people think that our forward should score 50-60 goals per season. I know that Karim won't do that - he will reach 25-30 goals, but he will also do what other forwards don't do - create another 30 or 40 goals for his teammates.
It's no coincidence that Karim has been playing in Madrid for almost 10 years. Clearly, he is the best and displays beautiful game. It saddens me that other people speak like this about my players, because I am always ready to defend them against anyone."
K. Benzema has only scored two goals this season in eight played matches.
