During an Instagram Live session with rapper Rohff, Karim Benzema, 38, the Al-Hilal striker, offered a striking comparison between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. The former Real Madrid player emphasized the collective strength of Luis Enrique’s PSG, while also highlighting the current limitations of Real Madrid’s style of play.
Benzema: “The starter knows what he has to do, the substitute knows what he has to do.”
“At PSG, the good thing is when you field the starting lineup, they play, they play… But when the coach makes a change in the 60th or 70th minute, and the guys who come on, they contribute more than those who started the match. And these are supposedly the substitutes. Can you imagine? Everyone knows what they have to do, what they have to contribute. The starter knows what he has to do, the substitute knows what he has to do.”
Benzema: “The substitute doesn’t sulk.”
The substitute doesn’t sulk. In Madrid, it’s complicated because they don’t play as a team much. (…) PSG isn’t a team of stars, apart from (Ousmane) Dembélé, the Ballon d’Or winner. But forget it: they press, they defend, they…” “They attack, they run… The most famous person at PSG is Luis Enrique. But it’s a real Paris team. You can put whoever you want up front, they all work together, and the substitutes work just as hard. That’s why they’re so strong.”
Karim Benzema’s statement is particularly striking because it comes from a player who knows Real Madrid intimately. Without resorting to gratuitous provocation, the former Madrid striker contrasts two dynamics: on the one hand, a Spanish team that he considers less coherent as a unit; on the other, a Paris Saint-Germain capable of maintaining the same intensity, regardless of the players on the pitch.
His praise is directed less at individual players than at the overall system established by Luis Enrique. In his analysis, both starters and substitutes know their role, accept their place, and operate within a shared framework. This is precisely what gives weight to his words: Benzema doesn’t just focus on Parisian talent; he emphasizes a team culture. And for PSG, that’s probably the highest compliment.
