Real Madrid manager, Carlos Ancelotti, has hailed Karim Benzema and Luka Modric as important players in his squad ahead of their Champions League final clash with Liverpool.
Ancelotti stated that the vacuum left behind by Cristiano Ronaldo who left the club in 2018 had been filled by Benzema who had shown form.
He also expressed amazement at the form of Modric despite the Croatian being 36.
The Italian told SiriusXM FC’s The Football Show, as reported by Fooball Espana: “I have difficulty calling Benzema only a centre-forward because he is a fantastic player that’s playing from the front. He is not only a top scorer but he also provides assists for his teammates and partakes in the buildup of play.
“He is a complete player and for us he’s really important because he scores so many goals. He is a top, top player and I think he is the best right now. It is the same with [Luka] Modric. It does not seem like he is 36 because he still has the enthusiasm to play, the professionalism to be at the top all the time.
“They are both really important for us. I think Karim became a leader of the team when [Cristiano] Ronaldo left because at that time he had more responsibility.
“Ronaldo was a player that was scoring around 50 goals a season and without him Madrid had more difficulties to score goals. Karim took on this responsibility and became more important for the team.”