Former Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has paid tribute to Karim Benzema.

Zidane was long the strongest ally of Benzema at the club.

"Karim was important for the balance of the team in terms of how he wanted the team to attack," Zidane said to UEFA.

"Helping to implement our possession game by playing with his teammates, he's a true team player."

Despite such a short tenure at Real, Zidane consistently won silverware.

"The Champions League titles were special for different reasons," he continued. "The first one stands out because it was the first for me as a coach, the second one was symbolic and intense, and the third put the icing on my three seasons at Real Madrid.

"I always stayed true to the football philosophy that I transmitted to my players, regardless of who our opponents were.

"Very often, we achieved very good results away from home, which could explain a slight loss of concentration during the following games, at the same time.

"I never had the impression that the team panicked.

"When you work with top quality players, they know how to manage those periods of games when you're not playing well, and they quickly return to normality.

"My job was to keep people quiet!"