Former Real Madrid and AC Milan striker Antonio Cassano believes Cristiano Ronaldo should “pray in the morning” and say “thank you” to former team mate Karim Benzema.
The Manchester United forward joined Los Blancos in the same transfer window as Benzema, whose £34million move from Lyon preceded Ronaldo's arrival. While the record breaking £80m Real Madrid forked out on Ronaldo stole all the headlines, Benzema has also proven to be a pivotal player for the 13-time European champions.
As well as contributing 316 goals and 157 assists in 596 appearances for the club, the French ace followed up one exceptional hat-trick against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, with another equally impressive hattrick in the following round against Chelsea. And Cassano , who has regularly hurled jibes in Ronaldo’s direction, believes Ronaldo should attribute more appreciation to Benzema’s contributions during their time together at the Bernabeu.
“In football, there are not only titles and goals, Zidane scored few goals, but he is one of the greatest in history, Riquelme too,” Cassano said to Bobo Tv, via Area Napoli. “Goals are useful, titles are useful, but they are not the fundamental things.
“Cristiano Ronaldo has to pray in the morning and say, ‘Thank you, Benzema, that you played with me’. Benzema, this year and last year, has scored 50 goals and assists this year and last year over 30 goals.
“Ronaldo scores and will always score, but he’s a different player; Benzema is a goalscoring centre forward. But he’s also Zidane; he’s a 9, he’s a ten and a nine and a half.”
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Benzema’s incredible performance against Chelsea also meant the 34-year-old has actually scored more goals for Real, than Ronaldo has for Juventus and Manchester United. Benzema has found the net 124 times for the Spanish giants since the two parted ways, while Ronaldo has managed 119 for the Turin side and United.
The Frenchman’s display at Stamford Bridge also entrenched himself in Champions League folklore, as he became only the fourth player after Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Adriano to register back-to-back hat-tricks in the competition.
And Ronaldo’s former team mate Rio Ferdinand, believes Benzema’s outstanding individual contributions could mean he is worthy for this year’s Ballon d’Or title. “Karim Benzema, if they’re not engraving his name on the Ballon d’Or, I’ll be surprised,” he told BT Sport.
“He’s been magic. In the last tie, he was magnificent and grabbed a hat-trick. Tonight he’s done the same and got another hat-trick.
“This man made the difference. Yes, they got their tactics right with Vinicius [Junior] out on the right and pinning [Andreas] Christensen back. But, he put the chances away as they came and dispatched them beautifully. What a masterclass.”
Benzema is currently in the best goalscoring form of his career, contributing 37 goals and 12 assists in 37 appearances in all competitions for Carlo Ancelotti’s side. He is also currently on course to win his fourth La Liga title, as Los Blancos currently command a 12 points lead in La Liga with seven matches left to be played.
