Samir Nasri

Samir Nasri has claimed that he feels for his international teammate Karim Benzema, who has been omitted from the French national team squad for the Euro 2016.

As France are hosting the tournament, much is expected from them. However, there is a possibility that the team could struggle, as manager Didier Deschamps has decided not to take Benzema due to disciplinary reasons. The Real Madrid striker was recently held up in various scandals. Even though the incidents took place off the pitch,Deschamps does not want to take any risks on an aspect that has been a big issue for France in recent tournaments.

The French national team has had a major problem with discipline so much so thatDeschamps admitted that he would take a squad with discipline the players rather than quality players to the Euro 2016. One of the first names to miss out on the squad is Benzema and Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri says that the omission is a big surprise. Nasri is also one of the names not to be present in the squad, as he has struggled with poor form and injuries throughout the 2015-16 campaign. Hence, he was not expecting to be named in the squad in the first place.

Benzema, however, comes on the back of a successful campaign after just winning his second Champions League medal.“It [his absence] will be really important because he had the best season of his career and scored plenty of goals in the league, so I was a little bit surprised with his suspension. Sometimes you don’t understand things that are happening there, so I’m a little bit sad for him. I think it’s an easy group and the fact that there are now 24 teams makes it easier to qualify for the round of 16,” said Nasri.