Champions League Final 2016: 5 takeaways for Euro 2016

4. France made the right call Leaving Karim Benzema off roster

Real Madrid may have gotten the win, but they were lackluster in a lot of ways throughout the night in the Champions League Final. Many of their stars failed to show up in the manner that the team needed them to and, had that not been the case, the match may not have had to be decided in a penalty shootout. However, the most glaring example of this for Real Madrid was French forward Karim Benzema, a man who was just awful to watch on Saturday.

The first major problem with Benzema’s play in the Champions League Final was that he disappeared for long stretches of the match when he was on the pitch. There were legitimately moments in the first half where I wondered if Benzema had been sent off and I’d missed it. When he would get the ball, though, he was equally as frustrating as he failed to do anything resembling something creative with it and almost always was dispossessed before making any real drama.

When France initially left Benzema off of their roster, it was at least mildly perplexing. Not only is he a veteran forward for their roster as they’re the host country, but there’s also no denying how quality the forward is when he’s playing at his best. After you see an outing and showing like this one on Saturday in the Champions League Final, though, you realize that the French National Team almost surely knew what they were doing in leaving him off. In this form, he’d do more harm than good for their side.

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