CLIMBING THE RANKS

Benzema, the son of Algerian immigrants Hafid and Wahida Djebbara, started his career at hometown club Lyon before he was even a teenager. He moved swiftly through the youth system before making his first-team debut in 2005.

He was 19 when he was called up to play for France and 21 when he was snapped up by Real Madrid in an initial €35million deal.

Although he spent a large part of his career playing second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and his Portuguese teammate made a deadly combination who devastated defences in Europe for the next half

a decade.

ABOVE: With his former Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. LEFT: The striker in action for his break-out club, Lyon.