Praise for hat-trick hero Benzema

Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka has hailed striker Karim Benzema after his a hat-trick in their 4-0 Champions League win over Auxerre.

Karanka said the 22-year-old’s goals were just reward for all the hard work he had done in training, and he insisted the Frenchman was enjoying his football at the Bernabeu after a difficult start to his career in Spain.

“We know what Karim Benzema is about as he does it day in, day out in training,” Karanka said.

“It was important for him to have a night like tonight to rubbish the rumours that all was not well. If he is left to do what he does best, I’m sure the goals will flow.”

The assistant was in charge of Real for the game after Jose Mourinho’s ban for conspiring to have players sent off against Ajax last month to clear their yellow-card records ahead of the knockout stage.

Karanka said the only negative to come out of Wednesday’s game – which saw Real finish eight points clear of AC Milan on top of Group G – was a mouth injury to goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, who was forced off just after half-time in his first start for the season.

“It’s a shame about Dudek’s injury as everything was going well otherwise. After waiting so long for an opportunity to play, it is a pity it was so short,” Karanka said.

“I hope he makes a swift recovery. Looking ahead to the draw, the other teams should certainly be wary of Real Madrid.”

Auxerre coach Jean Fernandez said he had anticipated a tough time in Group G after being drawn alongside European heavyweights Milan and Real

“We knew from the outset that a section including Real and AC Milan would provide a tough task. We remain positive, though,” Fernandez said.

“We experienced a lot of magic moments in this competition even if we ended up in last place. I’d say that does not matter. We knew tonight would be the toughest game of them all and were not mistaken.”

“I’m frustrated that not once have we managed to play our strongest team. It could have been much easier.”