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Benzema fires back at Riou over exclusion from top 20 strikers of all time

The 2022 Ballon d'Or winner responded on Instagram after journalist Yoann Riou claimed that Karim Benzema does not even rank among the twenty greatest strikers in football history.

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Benzema fires back at Riou over exclusion from top 20 strikers of all time
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Karim Benzema did not let the slight pass. After journalist Yoann Riou’s claims that he is excluded from the top 20 — even the top 30 — greatest strikers of all time, the former Real Madrid striker replied directly in the comments on Instagram.

It all started with a segment broadcast this week on the show L’Équipe de Greg, where Yoann Riou took a contrarian stance to Benzema’s recent claims, in which the striker placed himself on the podium of the greatest centre-forwards in history. “I’m sorry but Benzema is not even in the top 20 greatest strikers of all time,” the journalist said bluntly, before adding: “Without disrespecting him, football did not start in 2010. Football has decades and decades of history. For me, he’s not in the top 20, not even in the top 30, and that’s not an insult.”

The 2022 Ballon d’Or’s reply was not long in coming. Under the video posted on the channel’s Instagram account, Benzema wrote: “Rolololo, so you’re late, go to sleep, tomorrow you get up early! #lequipedechèvre”. A brief comment, but one that leaves no doubt about what the player thinks of the analysis.

Currently without a club after his departure from Al-Ittihad, Benzema received support from Alexandre Lacazette and Benoît Assou-Ekotto, who also reacted to the post. The debate over “KB9“‘s place in the historical hierarchy of strikers promises to last well beyond this exchange.

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