Benzema: Great players are always criticised, we sell newspapers LaLiga - Real Madrid Spoke very highly of Florentino Perez

Criticism of Karim Benzema has been over the top, the striker himself has claimed, and he believes such negativity is good for media business.

The Real Madrid striker has endured a difficult campaign in front of goal to date, scoring just five times in LaLiga.

However, in a lengthy interview with Vanity Fair, he has defended himself against the criticism that he has received of late.

"The great players are always criticised because we sell newspapers," he explained.

"If I have a bad game, I don't need to read the press to know about it.

"I always play to help my teammates and to try to win everything but I don't care if my name is in the papers, it doesn't mean anything."

Benzema also reserved praise for his Real president Florentino Perez, particularly after a difficult period in his personal life when he was imprisoned for a night for his involvement in the Mathieu Valbuena blackmail case.

"After spending a day in prison, I returned very sad and Florentino waited for me in Valdebebas," the former Lyon man recalled.

"He gave me all of his affection and is with me in both the good and bad times, he is like family to me."

The striker also opened up on the changes he made to develop his game for the better and which he credits with turning his time at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu around.

"When I was 23, I realised that I had to be more disciplined or else I would end up back in France," explained Benzema.

"I made many sacrifices to get to this point. One of them was to stop eating everything I wanted to. That's the biggest sacrifice I've made."

He shed some light on the controversy that has surrounded him on occasion when on international duty: his refusal to sign to the French national anthem before games.

"If we listen to La Marseillaise, it is a call to go to war and I don't like that," he said firmly.