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Former France midfielder Samir Nasri sided with Real Madrid ace Karim Benzema's departure from the French national team during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Benzema left the camp in Qatar due to an injury as the reigning Ballon d'Or winner was not ready to play from the start. He eventually announced his retirement from the team.
There have been different opinions since about who is at fault for Benzema's departure. Nasri recently chimed in on the matter, saying (via GOAL France):
“I understand Karim a little bit. When we see the group stage of the French team, they could do without Karim Benzema. They played against teams that were much weaker than the French team."
He further accused France manager Didier Deschamps of having a different approach to Benzema than to Raphel Varane. The defender was also a doubt for the group stages as he suffered a femoral bicep injury before the World Cup.
Nasri added:
“Deschamps says to him 'See with the team manager to arrange your departure. ' So no matter what, he was going to leave. If the coach has this behavior with me and he makes a right pass for Raphaël Varane who has the right to be injured in the first match but I don't, I wouldn't even have gone to see the team manager. I would have taken my things and left too."
Nasri claimed that it's important to know the Real Madrid No. 9's version of the story to reach a conclusion. He said:
“That is what happened. But you also need to have Karim's version to know exactly.“
Real Madrid superstar Karim Benzema is yet to extend his contract
Karim Benzema's Real Madrid contract is set to run out at the end of the season and he is yet to commit to a new deal.
His campaign has been injury-plagued this season. Benzema has scored 18 goals and has provided five assists in 27 games across competitions this term.
He is currently Los Blancos' all-time second-highest goalscorer with 341 goals in 632 matches. Benzema also has 164 assists to his name.
