Karim Benzema is the star of Al Ittihad’s tour of Spain. The French striker is facing his second season in Saudi Arabia and says he has no regrets about leaving ‘Los Blancos’.

The post-Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid cannot be imagined without Karim Benzema. The Frenchman took over the reins from the Portuguese and became, over a period of time, one of the best strikers on the planet. When he was at his peak, he decided to leave for Saudi Arabia to everyone’s surprise.

Now, the French striker is facing his second season at Al Ittihad, where he feels he is the star. Benzema has no regrets about leaving Real Madrid. In fact, he believes he did it at the right time.

“Some arrive and others leave. That’s how it is and it will always happen. It was time. Of course I look back and I feel happy. Last season they gave a sense of power, of good football and that’s why they won the Champions League and La Liga. To this day, I don’t see another team that can be better than Madrid,” he confessed to ‘Marca’ during his stay in Spain.

Benzema insisted that Real Madrid “are currently the best team in the world. They are always strong and fighting for everything. I stop, I look and I don’t see any team capable of being better.

The No 9 left free by Benzema already has an owner for the 2024-25 season. It will be his compatriot Kylian Mbappe, of whom he said that “sooner or later he was going to play for Real Madrid”. “He is a great player,” he added of the French striker.

Another of the topics discussed was the next Ballon d’Or, perhaps the most open in the last 17 years: “I’m going to say Vini because he deserves it for his season, and not just for what he has done this year, but also for his football and what he does with the ball. He’s a boy, a complete footballer”.