Carlo Ancelotti claims Real Madrid's Karim Benzema is the best striker in the world

Karim Benzema has scored 7 goals so far in all competition this season

Former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has claimed that France international Karim Benzema is the ‘best striker in the world’, as per the reports on Mirror. Benzema enjoyed a successful run during the Italian’s tenure at the Santiago Bernabeu where he led the club to their 10th European title.

Although Bayern Munich’s Polish striker Robert Lewandowski has come under the spotlight with his phenomenal goalscoring streak this season, netting 22 times in 16 appearances for club and country, the Italian manager feels Benzema still remains a cut above the competition. The 27-year-old has found the back of the net seven times so far this season.

According to Ancelotti, Benzema’s presence up front makes life easier for fellow forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. Not only is the Frenchman a prolific scorer, but he has an eye for a pass, too. Under the former AC Milan and Chelsea manager, Benzema added a total of 31 assists to his name in two seasons.

When asked about Benzema, Ancelotti said: “It is ideal for Ronaldo and Bale. To me, Karim is the best player in the world in his position and not just as a goalscorer.

“Talking about whether he should score 30 goals is a false debate. He has great qualities; he is a complete player.”

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Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, two of Ancelotti’s former clubs, are set to face each other in the Champions League’s third game week on Wednesday night. Unfortunately, Benzema remains a doubt with a hamstring problem he picked during the international break when Les Bleus faced Armenia in a friendly.

The focus will be on two world-class forwards – Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and PSG’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Both players are the leading all-time goal-scorers at their own respective clubs and Ancelotti has worked with both men and appreciated their considerable qualities.

“Cristiano has scored many goals and has a great ability to focus,” he said in an interview. “He focuses on the daily training and is very important for the team and the other players.

“I can say the same for Ibrahimovic, I think he was more important to change the mentality of the PSG players.”

The 56-year-old believes it will be a close encounter between the two European giants and did not commit to supporting one club over the other.

“My heart is divided. It is a very close game, we'll see the strength of PSG this year,” he added. “I think it's an important game for PSG.”