Benzema faces Mbappe and hints at Real link-up

A GRINNING Karim Benzema admitted he could be playing alongside Kylian Mbappe at Real Madrid next season ahead of their Champions League duel in Paris tonight. ‘Playing against Kylian is special because we play in the national side together,’ said Benzema. ‘Everyone knows that one day he could arrive at Madrid, but the most important thing is to play this game first and win it.’ It is an open secret that Mbappe has turned down several offers from Paris Saint-Germain to extend his contract, which runs out at the end of the season, so he can fulfil a boyhood ambition of playing for Real Madrid. In the first leg of their last-16 clash at Parc des Princes, the two France forwards will face each other if Benzema is passed fit, having not trained properly since straining a hamstring on January 23. He has scored 24 goals this season and without him, in their last three games, Real have netted just once. Gareth Bale played centre forward at the weekend in Benzema’s absence, doing well in a goalless draw at Villarreal that he came closest to settling by hitting the bar in the second half. ‘I think it’s good for him that he ends his career at Real Madrid well because he has helped this club win a lot of trophies,’ Real coach Carlo Ancelotti said of the Welshman. Ancelotti also had words of support for PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino. ‘It’s not easy to coach a side with this much pressure,’ he said of his opposite number, who had earlier done his best to release some of that pressure going into the game. Asked if the Ligue 1 club were favourites, Pochettino said: ‘PSG have been waiting to win this tournament for over 50 years. We are the challengers — it’s the opponents who have made a habit of winning the competition. ‘Madrid’s record speaks for itself and it’s not just a question of the coaches and the players, but the solidity of the club.’ The former Tottenham and Southampton manager knows that will carry little weight with PSG’s Qatari owners if they go out in the last-16. The finger of blame will be pointed at the man who was tasked with taking a team, led by the stellar attack of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Mbappe, all the way to the final. Neymar has only just come back from an ankle injury picked up in November, but trained yesterday and could still play a part. Messi has adapted slowly to his new club since he signed a two-year deal in the summer, scoring just seven goals in 20 games. But Pochettino said: ‘Leo is looking good and he’s really up for this game. ‘It’s an important night and he could be vital for us.’