France striker Karim Benzema has announced his retirement from international football – on his 35th birthday – a day after Les Bleus lost against Argentina on penalties in the World Cup final. The Ballon d’Or winner, who scored 37 times in 97 appearances, was expected to lead the line for France in Qatar but missed the tournament after sustaining a thigh injury in training the day before it started.
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France striker Karim Benzema has been ruled out of the World Cup after suffering an injury to his left thigh during training on Saturday in Doha, the French federation have confirmed. The 2022 Ballon d’Or winner felt a strong pain in his quads during a sprint toward the end of the training session.
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Karim Benzema, Federico Valverde and Rodrygo were all on target as a dominant Real Madrid beat old rivals Barcelona 3-1 at home in El Clasico to move top of La Liga. Ferran Torres scored a late goal for Barca to spark hopes of a comeback but an injury time penalty put the result beyond doubt.
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Carlo Ancelotti became the first manager to win the league in all five of Europe’s major leagues as Real Madrid beat Espanyol to clinch the La Liga title. Two goals from Rodrygo and strikes from Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema confirmed Real’s 35th Spanish title with a 4-0 win over Espanyol.
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Manchester City will take a slender Champions League semi-final advantage to the Bernabeu after winning a seven-goal first-leg classic against Real Madrid. Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus fired City into an early lead but Madrid struck back via Karim Benzema before Phil Foden and Vinicius Junior traded goals with Bernardo Silva and Benzema also finding the net.
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