Benzema admits Mbappe might play alongside him at Real Madrid soon
It is an open secret that Mbappe has turned down several offers from Paris Saint-Germain to extend his contract
A grinning Karim Benzema admitted he could be playing alongside Kylian Mbappe at Real Madrid next season ahead of their Champions League duel in Paris on Tuesday.
'Playing against Kylian is special because we play in the national side together,' said Benzema.
'Everyone knows that one day he could arrive at Madrid, but the most important thing is to play this game first and win it.'
It is an open secret that Mbappe has turned down several offers from Paris Saint-Germain to extend his contract, which runs out at the end of the season, so he can fulfil a boyhood ambition of playing for Real Madrid.
In the first leg of their last-16 clash at Parc des Princes, the two France forwards will face each other if Benzema is passed fit, having not trained properly since straining a hamstring on January 23.
He has scored 24 goals this season and without him, in their last three games, Real have netted just once. Gareth Bale played centre forward at the weekend in Benzema's absence, doing well in a goalless draw at Villarreal that he came closest to settling by hitting the bar in the second half.
'I think it's good for him that he ends his career at Real Madrid well because he has helped this club win a lot of trophies,' Real coach Carlo Ancelotti said of the Welshman.
Ancelotti also had words of support for PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino.
'It's not easy to coach a side with this much pressure,' he said of his opposite number, who had earlier done his best to release some of that pressure going into the game.”
