Barcelona's Antoine Griezmann heaps praise on Real Madrid's Karim Benzema

Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann has praised the consistency of Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema.

Despite recently being linked with a move away from the Bernabeu, Benzema has responded to question marks surrounding his future by scoring 16 goals from 21 outings this season.

Ahead of Wednesday night's Clasico at Camp Nou, Griezmann has claimed that there should never be any doubts regarding the ability of his French compatriot.

Griezmann told La Liga: "He is like that every year. For some reason people always doubt him but he's always racking up 15 to 20 goals per season in La Liga. He's a great striker.

'He's spent I don't know how many years at Real Madrid and I reckon he is one of the best number nines out there."

The two teams head into their upcoming clash sitting level on points at the top of the La Liga table.