Cristiano Ronaldo told to pray & say ‘thank you’ to Karim Benzema

Former Real Madrid and Roma striker Antonio Cassano has aimed another jibe at the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.

Cristiano Ronaldo should ‘pray in the morning’ and say ‘thank you’ to Karim Benzema, according to Antonio Cassano.

Ronaldo and Benzema were teammates at Real Madrid from 2009 until 2018. During their nine-year spell, the pair made 342 appearances alongside each other. They managed a combined 522 goals and 196 assists. These stats helped the club win 15 trophies, including four Champions League titles.

Since Ronaldo left Real Madrid in 2018, Benzema has become the club’s main man. The striker recently scored back-to-back hat-tricks against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea in the Champions League. In the eyes of many fans and pundits, he is the favorite for the 2022 Ballon d’Or.

Karim Benzema: “Cristiano helped me a lot in my career, he’s given me the most assists.”

Ronaldo agreed with Benzema’s statements when he said he changed his game throughout the years from the assister to main goal scorer.

🇫🇷🤝🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/t85TO81Y5i

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) April 8, 2022

‘Ronaldo has to pray in the morning’

Now Cassano, who has regularly hurled jibes at Ronaldo in the past, reckons CR7 should show more appreciation to Benzema’s contributions during their time together in Spain.

“In football, there are not only titles and goals, [Zinedine] Zidane scored few goals, but he is one of the greatest in history, [Juan Roman] Riquelme too,” the ex-Real Madrid striker said on Bobo TV.

“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 center-forward. But he’s also Zidane; he’s a 9, he’s a ten and a nine and a half.”

Benzema is set to return to action on Tuesday for Real Madrid’s second leg against Chelsea in their Champions League quarter-final tie.

With home advantage, plus a 3-1 aggregate lead, Carlo Ancelotti’s men are the favorites. Bet365 has priced them at 2.40 for victory, at the time of writing. This suggests they have a 42% chance of doing so.