Real Madrid Have A Winning Culture - Christian Karembeu

After Real Madrid's exorbitant summer of spending, Christian Karembeu gave his opinion on their chances of Champions League success this season.

The Frenchman, who won both the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championships in 2000, knows what it takes to achieve success in Europe's elite club competition, having won it twice with los Merengues.

"The coach is key because he needs to put eleven, maybe even 22 players together, manage them, fit them together, and get them all giving their best for the team," Karembeu explained to uefa.com.

"It is not easy for coaches, but I think all players are intelligent enough to leave their egos to one side. We all love football, we grew up with the ball and I think we should not forget that."

The former Sampdoria midfielder added that he had spoken with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez about a number of Frenchman that could potentially sign for the club.

"I had a meeting with Florentino Perez, who asked me about the best [French] players. I talked about [Karim] Benzema, Franck Ribery and Yoann Gourcuff.

"It is not easy for Benzema – he is very young and has just arrived from Lyon. But he is doing his job, scoring goals."

Karembeu lifted the Champions League trophy in 1998 and 2000 with los Blancos, and believes that the club are destined to win trophies.

"Winning trophies is the culture there, and I just lived with that philosophy. You are at Real Madrid to win trophies, and that's all that matters."

Anthony Wright, Goal.com