Benzema on his backheel assist: I knew Casemiro was arriving

Karim Benzema explained the thinking behind his sensational backheel assist for Casemiro during Real Madrid's 1-0 win over Espanyol.

The Frenchman found his teammate in front of goal with a glorious piece of skill that Guti would've been proud of.

"It was a very good play, but the most important thing is the goal afterwards," Benzema said when asked about the backheel at full time.

"Casemiro took it well.

"We're very happy.

"[The backheel] is how I see football.

"I knew Casemiro was coming behind me."

The win takes Real Madrid two points clear of Barcelona at the top of the LaLiga Santander table.

"We're definitely looking at what Barcelona do, although we're very focused on ourselves," Benzema said.

"I'm not going to talk about Barcelona, but we're doing well.

"We're going game by game and each match is like a cup final in LaLiga."

It's now five wins from five games for Los Blancos since the resumption of the season.

"We're happy and we wanted to win," Benzema said.

"We were very motivated, we've got three points and let's head home."