"Without Messi it's the same, it's never a good time to play Barca"

Karim Benzema's great form is one of Real Madrid's positive pieces of news before 'El Clasico'. The French striker spoke about this game to 'ESPN' and he denied that Barca will be easy opposition without Leo Messi. 

"For me, 'El Clasico' will still be the same, as difficult without Messi. It's still the best game that exists. We don't mind care about the players which are there, have gone or will come. The rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona is historic. The players change, before there was Zidane, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Eto'o... 'El Clasico' will always be 'El Clasico'," Benzema said about the game on 24th October. 

In addition, he admitted that he is not getting complacent because of Barca's poor form: "There's never a good time to play Barca. A team liek that, like any top team, can have a bad game and then recover. We cannot get complacent even if they haven't played well up to now."

Another of the topics which Benzema spoke about was the Ballon D'or. He has once again been nominated and there are those who think he should win it this year: "It's been a dream since I was young and a motivation. The Ballon d'Or represents the best players in the world and it's brilliant to be in the list, especially seeing who else is among the finalists. It's always been one of my objectives."

Before talking about Mbappe, the Madrid player explained that, despite the fact the trophy motivates him, he does not think about it when he plays: "I'm only doing what I've been doing for three or four years. When I play, I don't think about the Ballon d'Or, I think about helping the team win and putting on a show. The Ballon d'Or comes as a result of that because it focusses more on individuals, but I prioritise the team."

On his France teammate and his possible signing for Real Madrid, he said he did not know what will happen in the future: "I really like watching Mbappe play and he does it better and better in matches. If we look at the last game, we see that we are combining better and better, he knows what I want and vice-versa. That is despite us playing lots of matches together. It's brilliant that we play together for France, but on whether we'll play together at Real Madrid, we'll see what happens in the future."