Benzema: It's not about age, my body feels strong because I work hard

The new season begins with Real Madrid's UEFA Super Cup match against Eintracht Frankfurt and the Frenchman joined coach Carlo Ancelotti and teammate Luka Modric for the pre-match press conference.

Karim Benzema just had one of the best seasons of his career, but he feels ready to go again for 2022/23.

"We might not be young anymore, but it's not about age and my body feels good because I keep working hard," Benzema said, when asked how he feels now that he'll turn 35 this season.

"This game is very important for us. We had a good pre-season and we're ready.

"We're the champions of Europe, therefore we must give our all to win and to bring the trophy back to Madrid.

"I'm very proud to be captain, but the team is still the most important for me.

"I've always said that the collective trophies are more important than the individual ones."

Benzema is clearly one of the most important players in the Real Madrid squad and Ancelotti spoke in his comments about how difficult losing the No.9 would be. But, the striker isn't concerned about whether he has a backup or not.

"I don't know, the coach is here and the president too, so I'm not the one to answer that question," he replied.

Benzema's reflection about Cristiano Ronaldo

The striker also spoke about the change from playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo to becoming the leader of Los Blancos' attack in 2018.

"Yes, I've scored more goals since he left, but I was also important when he was here with assists," Benzema said.

"Cristiano helped me a lot on and off the pitch.

"When he left, I changed my play and my ambition a little and so far it's going well.

"It's not for me to say if I'm the best player in the world or not, but each year I try to give my maximum for what is the best club in the world."

Eintracht Frankfurt's defence must be "special" to deal with Real Madrid's Karim Benzema-inspired attack in the Super Cup, according to head coach Oliver Glasner.

Europa League winners Frankfurt take on the Champions League victors in Helsinki on Wednesday.

Yet Frankfurt come into the clash on the back of a 6-1 home hammering at the hands of Bayern Munich in their opening Bundesliga fixture on Saturday, while they are also without their creative hub in the form of Filip Kostic, who has been left out of the squad to seal a transfer for Juventus.

While confident his team can come away with a surprise victory at the Olympic Stadium, Glasner acknowledged they must be far less open than they were against Bayern, who were 5-0 up by half-time.

"If we have to play against Real, we need a special defence, especially [against] Benzema, who was the best scorer in the Champions League, really great in box, but it's important that the players who give him passes, whoever plays, that we prevent the players passing into the box because it will always be very difficult to defend Benzema," said Glasner in a news conference.

"That's the idea, act in a compact manner, pressure Madrid so they don't have very much space.

"We're feeling very good, looking very much forward [to the game]. Great compensation for the Europa League final, for the win, playing the Super Cup now, playing a Champions League winner that knocked out Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.

"Of course, the team that waits for us is high quality, we want to show our best football, give our best on the pitch... we're not really scared, we're looking forward to it.

"We showed last year on the European stage there's always a chance, we took that chance."

While Frankfurt, who defeated Barcelona en route to winning the Europa League, might be inexperienced when it comes to matches of this magnitude, they have signed a player who is very much accustomed to big occasions in the form of Mario Gotze.

Former Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund playmaker Gotze, who scored Germany's winner in the 2014 World Cup final, joined Frankfurt from PSV, and Glasner is delighted with his impact so far.

"We are glad that Mario joined us. He integrated really quickly, his technical qualities, his sense for finding solutions, he's very zealous, running a lot," Glasner said.

"He already played 50 or 60 Champions League matches, he has a lot of experience at this level, so for him it's not the newest thing to play against teams like Real Madrid."

Another player who has played for one of Europe's biggest clubs is Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who insisted he will not do anything different to prepare for the game, despite going up against the likes of Benzema and Vinicius Junior.

Trapp said: "There are butterflies in my stomach, but I am happy to play in this game tomorrow.

"It's a huge possibility to show our strengths, but I don't prepare in a special way, everyone knows these players and their qualities, how strong they are.

"My job is always the same, to help the team not concede any goals, that'll be my job, but we will face a lot of quality with Benzema and Vinicius, whoever it is."

Forum

Benzema: It's not about age, my body feels strong because I work hard

Replies