Real Madrid rule out Benzema bid

Real Madrid have ruled out making a January move for Lyon hot-shot Karim Benzema.

The Spanish champions paraded their new 27million euro signing Klaas-Jan Huntelaar before the media on Thursday, before president Ramon Calderon ruled out launching a transfer window move for the coveted France starlet.

Benzema would be unable to feature for Real in the Champions League having already played for the French club in this season's competition.

"I do not know if the interest is still there, but it is clear that for now it would be impossible," claimed Calderon.

"We should bring in a player who can participate in the Champions League, who is young and we can develop for the future."

Barcelona and Manchester United have also both been strongly linked with moves for 20-year-old Benzema.

Meanwhile, former Levante defender Luis Rubjales has rejected claims from ex-team-mate Inaki Descarga that the club deliberately lost a La Liga match.

Descarga lifted the lid on a potential match-fixing scandal in a newspaper interview earlier in the week.

The club's former skipper suggested they had deliberately lost a league game to Athletic Bilbao during the 2006-07 season which led to the Basque club surviving in the top-flight and Celta Vigo's relegation.

However, Rubjales claims he knows nothing about the allegations levelled by Descarga.

"I am surprised by the news. In my humble career I am a player who has always gone out to win," he said.

"If anything happened I knew nothing about it. I have been able to play better or worse, but I am very relaxed and I believe in the innocence of my team-mates until the contrary can be proven.

"I suppose that there will be a lot of commotion now because that is logical, but when I was told about it last night I was surprised."