Karim Benzema, the former France and Real Madrid star has come up with a solution for the depleted Real Madrid which conceded a miserable 3-1 defeat at the hands of AC Milan at Santiago Bernabeu in their home match of the ongoing Champions League on Tuesday.

While speaking in the Spanish television show E1 Chiringuito, Benzema explained that the solution lies mainly in Kylian Mbappe. According to Benzema, Mbappe must have to learn to play as a central striker while playing for the club. The former France striker added, “Mbappe will not be able to displace Vinicius Junior on the left.”

Kylian Mbappe joined Real Madrid after his Paris St-Germain contract ended in July, has scored eight goals in 14 appearances for his new club but has scored just once in his past five matches.

The 25-year-old's favorite position is on the left wing but manager Carlo Ancelotti has kept Brazil international Vinicius in that position, forcing Mbappe to play centrally.

Benzema explained, “The problem, in my opinion, is that Mbappe is not a central striker, even with the national team, every time he plays as a number nine he doesn't feel right, because that is not his position."

"On the left, he has got a guy, Vinicius. He is also a brilliant footballer. When Vinicius plays on the left he makes the difference in every game. Mbappe isn't a real number nine. People ask a lot of him and he's under a lot of pressure, this isn't Paris St-Germain.”

Significantly, Benzema is Real Madrid’s second-highest scorer of all time, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Frenchman won the Ballon d'Or when at the club in 2022 before signing for Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad last year.

Mbappe also failed to make an impact as Real’s 42-game unbeaten run in La Liga was ended by a 4-0 disastrous defeat against arch-rivals Barcelona.

On his advice to Real’s present number nine, Benzema said: “Mbappe needs to get it into his head that today he is a number nine and forget about the left flank for a while. At the same time, I also believe a footballer of Mbappe’s caliber must bounce back and redesign himself as the number nine."