Benzema praised Vinicius Junior, although he sometimes shouts at him

Vinicius Junior’s double against Liverpool may have been the start of his transition into that role.

Vinicius has everything to succeed at Madrid

Karim Benzema has been expecting somebody to talk all the goalscoring burden off his shoulder in Madrid. Vinicius Junior’s double against Liverpool may have been the start of his transition into that role. The French forward has praised the Brazilian, stating that although he sometimes shouts at him, it’s because he believes in his talent. Florentino Perez chose to sign Vinicius, an unheralded teenager, to avoid his price skyrocketing, as happened with Neymar. Still, the former Flamengo prodigy has been painfully inconsistent throughout his time in Spain. “Vinicius is a very young player, but I believe in him because he has everything to succeed here,” Benzema explained in an interview. “That’s why I talk to him a lot on the pitch, sometimes it’s a little loud, but it’s because of him. He can give more because when he wants to be, he’s a phenomenon.”

The Clasico is the best game in the world for the French striker

A Clasico win will put Real Madrid right back into the title picture in Spain, and Benzema sees the match as the ultimate test. “The Clasico is the best game in the world for me,” added Benzema. “Not only for me but for everyone, because there are two teams that have a lot of history. It’s always a critical match.” Given his form has been so impressive over the past two seasons, Benzema would have been forgiven for showing a kind of overconfidence. Still, the Frenchman refused to fall into the trap of self-praise in the build-up to such a necessary adaptation. “I don’t know if this was my best season,” Benzema confirmed. “Every year, I start from scratch and want to improve on the previous one.”

“Right now, I’m on a scoring streak, and if I can continue with work to help my squad win points and games, I’m going to do it. The main thing is to win.”