"Cristiano Ronaldo has to pray in the morning and say thank you, Benzema" - Cassano says Manchester United superstar should be indebted to ex-Real Madrid teammate

Former Italy international Antonio Cassano has said that Manchester United ace Cristiano Ronaldo should forever remain appreciative of Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema. According to Cassano, goals are only a part of the game, and what Benzema brings to the table goes beyond that.

Ronaldo and Benzema spent nine glorious years together at the Santiago Bernabeu, winning two La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League trophies. The duo read each other magnificently on the pitch and combined to devastating effect. The Frenchman cleverly made space for Ronaldo to exploit, helping the Portuguese score one brilliant goal after another.

Since the Portuguese’s departure in the summer of 2018, Benzema has emerged as Los Blancos’ go-to man up front, and he has stepped up to the challenge. Cassano, who was impressed by Benzema’s recent displays, said Ronaldo should show more gratitude towards the Frenchman.

On Bobo TV (via Area Napoli) Cassano said:

“In football, there are not only titles and goals; Zidane scored few goals, but he is one of the greatest in history, Riquelme too. Goals are useful; titles are useful, but they are not the fundamental things.”

He continued:

“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.”

Heaping praise on the 34-year-old Frenchman, Cassano added:

“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.”

Benzema scored a hat-trick in the Champions League last-16 second leg against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to fire Real Madrid into the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinal first leg, he scored a hat-trick against Chelsea, emulating Ronaldo as the only players to score consecutive hat-tricks in the competition's knockout round.

This season, the Manchester United no. 7 has scored 18 goals and provided three assists in 34 games across competitions. Benzema, meanwhile, has bagged 37 goals and provided 13 assists in 37 games across competitions for Real Madrid.

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Real Madrid ace Karim Benzema has scored more goals than Cristiano Ronaldo since start of 2018-19 season

Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid in the summer of 2018, shortly after their third consecutive UEFA Champions League triumph.

The Portuguese joined Juventus and spent three seasons there, winning two Serie A titles. He scored 28 goals in his debut season in Italy, netted 37 goals the next term and bagged 36 in his final campaign to bring up a century of goals for the Bianconeri. Since returning to Manchester United last summer, Ronaldo has scored 18 goals across competitions to take his four-season haul since he left Madrid to 119 goals.

Benzema, meanwhile, scored 30 goals in 2018-19, 27 goals in 2019-20, 30 goals in 2020-21 and 37 across competitions in the ongoing 2021-22 campaign. He has netted 124 times since the start of the 2018-19 season, narrowly outscoring his former Real Madrid teammate Ronaldo.