5 favourite teammates of Cristiano Ronaldo

#3 Karim Benzema

Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo for Real Madrid

There is little doubt that Ronaldo owes much of his success at Real Madrid to Karim Benzema. The French forward and Ronaldo have been involved in each other's goals a whopping 76 times, almost double that of anyone else to have played with the Portuguese superstar.

Benzema's sacrificial play was crucial in allowing Ronaldo to thrive at Real Madrid, with the Frenchman bearing criticism of the Bernabeu fans for many a season as he rarely got on the scoresheet. It was no surprise then that once Ronaldo left Madrid, Benzema was immediately back to his prolific ways.

It wasn't always a one-way street - CR7 was appreciative of Benzema in many ways:

Cristiano Ronaldo let Karim Benzema take a late penalty todayHe was one goal away from scoring his 50th career hat trick pic.twitter.com/347SV4obkd

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 24, 2018

Ronaldo has also confirmed that he still stays in touch with Benzema after moving to Juventus, noting that they 'speak often'. No wonder then that he reportedly wants a reunion.

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#2 Marcelo

Marcelo and Ronaldo shared many moments together at Real Madrid

Like Benzema, Ramos and Pepe, Marcelo spent a ton of time with Ronaldo on the pitch (26,091 minutes). However, of all the players Ronaldo has played with, Marcelo has the distinction of winning the most often, an incredible 73.19% of the games they have played together.

The Brazilian also ranks 4th-highest in combining with Ronaldo to score, an impressive 33 times. Putting that all aside, it's really Marcelo's relationship with Ronaldo off the pitch that's perhaps most important, as the Brazilian noted in 2018:

Marcelo to Ronaldo 💬"I'm proud to have played with you, not because you are the best player but because of who you are." #UCL pic.twitter.com/mvemTT8R92

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) July 13, 2018

Such was their friendship that Ronaldo trusted Marcelo to keep the news of his departure from Real Madrid a secret. Truly, a bromance for the ages.

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#1 Miguel Paixao and Jose Semedo

It's a bit disingenuous to give the top spot to two people, but so close are Miguel Paixao and Jose Semedo to Ronaldo that it's hard to separate the pair. Along with Ronaldo's personal manager Ricardo Regufe, the foursome are often seen spending time together on vacation, with their respective Instagram accounts chock-full of images of them bonding.

It's a childhood friendship that has witnessed the test of time and distance. Semedo and Paixao were Ronaldo's teammates at Sporting Lisbon, right from the youth level. In fact, Semedo owes much of his career, and life, to the Portuguese superstar.

As the story goes, Semedo was all set to be released by Sporting, only for Ronaldo to intervene:

"He said they could put an extra bed in his room and that we could share a cupboard for his clothes. He said that if I went, he would too. The place I am from in Setubal is not a good place for a young man. A lot of my friends from there were involved in crime. Some of them are dead now, or in jail. I owe everything I have to him. He changed my life. My family, my children, my career: it is all because of him."

Cristiano Ronaldo, more than a teammate.