Real Madrid give Benzema public vote of confidence

A bomb went off at Real Madrid on Thursday. And this time, it had nothing to do with the results, the performance of the team, the sporting project or the club's position in La Liga or the Champions League. No, this particular matter involving Karim Benzema was much more delicate.

The French forward was charged with conspiracy to blackmail his international teammate Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape and spent the night in jail in Versailles after giving testimony to a judge in Paris.

Logically, that story set alarms bells ringing at Real Madrid.

Benzema landed in Madrid first thing Thursday and went straight to training, where he is stepping up his recovery from injury to prepare — if possible — for Sunday's game at Sevilla.

There, at the club's training ground in Valdebebas, he was met by president Florentino Perez, who was eager to hear his player's version of the events of the previous 24 hours in order to gauge the severity of the media storm awaiting the club.

Following the meeting, Madrid released an official statement supporting Benzema.
"Karim Benzema restarted his training session this afternoon in the Ciudad Real Madrid after giving evidence to the French authorities in the city of Versailles," the statement read. "President of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez, has held a meeting with the player in which he expressed his full support and confidence in the goodness of his performance and his complete innocence.
"The club acknowledge and value his professional commitment, his demonstrated partnership and his unblemished attitude within the first team during the six years that he is part of Real Madrid."