'For me, he's the best': Zinedine Zidane hails Karim Benzema as greatest ever France centre-forward

Benzema, 32, scores twice in Real Madrid's 3-1 win over Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao's Spanish defender Ander Capa challenges Real Madrid's French forward Karim Benzema. AFP

Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema shoots at Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Unai Simon. AFP

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema challenges Athletic Bilbao's Yeray Alvarez. AFP

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema. EPA

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema in action against Yeray Alvarez. EPA

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema celebrates with coach Zinedine Zidane. AFP

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema celebrates scoring their third goal with teammates. Reuters

Athletic Bilbao's Inigo Cordoba challenges Real Madrid's Karim Benzema. AFP

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema celebrates after scoring his second goal. EPA

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema celebrates. EPA

Zinedine Zidane described Karim Benzema as the best French striker of all time after his match-winning double against Athletic Bilbao put Real Madrid joint top of La Liga on Tuesday.

Toni Kroos's thumping strike in first-half injury time gave Real the lead but was cancelled out by Ander Capa's reply on 52 minutes.

Benzema, 32, then took centre stage, heading home a cross with 16 minutes remaining and finishing clinically in stoppage time from Luka Modric's pass.

Afterwards Zidane, a player who many acclaim as France's greatest of all time, had no hesitation in declaring Benzema as France's best ever centre-forward, putting him at the top of a list that includes Thierry Henry, Kylian Mbappe, Jean-Pierre Papin and Just Fontaine.

"For me, he's the best - it's very clear," said Zidane, the French midfield legend who won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with Les Bleus.

"He's proved it; he's played at Real Madrid for a very long time, he has more than 500 appearances, all his goals... his record, all he's accomplished here speaks for itself."

Benzema arrived at Real Madrid from Lyon in 2009, but was often in the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a club record 450 goals before moving to Juventus in 2018.

On Saturday, Benzema's 529th match for Real, he broke Roberto Carlos' record for the most appearances by a non-Spanish player. Benzema is also the club's top scorer this season with 10 goals.

"He's a more mature player these days," said Zidane. "But he's always shown that he's not a pure nine, he doesn't only think about scoring.

"That's why I like him so much, I love him, he's not only thinking about goals. He gets involved in the game, if he needs to pass to a teammate he'll do it."

Third-placed Madrid gained their fourth straight win in all competitions and are equal on 26 points with Real Sociedad, who face troubled Barcelona at Camp Nou on Wednesday, and city rivals Atletico Madrid.