Karim Benzema slams Mathieu Valbuena saying his ex-France team-mate lied over sex-tape scandal
Real Madrid star accuses Lyon man of 'inventing lies' that are 'making him mad'
KARIM BENZEMA has accused former French team-mate Mathieu Valbuena of “inventing lies” over their sex-tape scandal.
The Real Madrid striker claimed the “lies” are “making him mad” and they have dragged his reputation through the mud.
A court in Versailles rejected the forward’s appeal to try and stop the trial last December and the unsavoury affair has continued to rumble on since he was first charged back in November 2015.
Benzema, speaking to , is clearly frustrated by the saga and hit out at Valbuena, who has remained silent throughout.
Benzema said: “There's really something wrong with him... it's all part of his story.
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“When I hear him say that he's ready to play with me again. To hear him at the beginning, I'm scum, I threatened him, I scared him, all you can invent... And now he wants to play with me!
“He said he would not have lodged a complaint if he knew I was involved in the story.
“For more than a year-and-a-half I'm his worst enemy, a bad guy, a thug, I have to be punished, dragged in the mud, my name and that of my family, in the dirt.”
Madrid star Benzema, 29, also revealed he has not seen close friend Karim Zenati, who is also accused of being in on the plot, since the scandal.
He said: “It has been almost two years since I was forbidden to see my best friend, if we do we go to prison, and he is quiet, but he must stop this crap, and I do not know why he keeps talking about me already.”
And on Valbuena, he added: “I am his enemy, I wanted to take money from him - he really has to stop inventing, it makes me mad he keeps on lying.
“Sex tape? He just had to tell the truth about what really happened.”
Upon the emergence of the tape, Valbuena told Le Monde: “He [Benzema] wasn't aggressive, and he didn't speak to me firmly, directly about money, but when you insist that I meet someone... hmmm.
“Personally, I've never known of anyone willing to destroy a video for free just because they love me. You can't take people for idiots.
“Afterwards, he said several times that I was dealing with 'big bandits' and he added: 'After all, the video is hot. If it was me, with my family and all... you'd have to be strong’.
“He would say: ‘I can introduce you to my friend...’ It kept coming back to that.
“Then when he was about to leave Karim said: ‘What shall I do? Shall I give him your number? Should I give you his number?’
“He was inciting me. He was saying, indirectly: ‘You will have to pay.’”