French striker Karim Benzema will not be wearing his shirt again after coach Didier Deschamps has turned his back on Real Madrid, saying he will not call him back to the squad.
The 31-year-old Frenchman has not appeared with the world's champions since 2015 after the scandal of the "sex tape" that he allegedly told his colleague Mateo Valbuena.
Benzema did little to improve the relationship with Deschamps, but made it even worse when he criticized him in an interview in the summer of 2016. He said the coach had succumbed to racial pressure when he was not called into the European Cup in the same year.
"Some people say things that do not appreciate their consequences, do not forget or forgive. At this moment, I felt that a red line had been crossed," he said in a television interview.
"He chose the French players because they are French without regard to the player's religion and color," said Deschamps.
Benzema scored only ten goals this season in the Liga and the Champions League.