"He had more responsibility" - Ancelotti explains why 'fantastic' Karim Benzema has thrived at Real Madrid after Cristiano Ronaldo's departure 

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has given his opinion on why French superstar Karim Benzema has done so well since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cristiano Ronaldo departed Madrid for Juventus back in 2018, leaving Benzema to take up the mantle of being the club's new talisman. The striker has since done so with aplomb, and Real Madrid have not particularly missed Cristiano Ronaldo upfront. Speaking to SiriusXM FC's The Football Show, as reported by Fooball Espana, Ancelotti was full of praise for the Frenchman. He said:

“I have difficulty calling Benzema only a centre-forward because he’s a fantastic player that’s playing from the front. He’s not only a top scorer but he also provides assists for his teammates and partakes in the buildup of play. He’s a complete player and for us he’s really important because he scores so many goals. He’s a top, top player and I think he’s the best right now."

Ancelotti added:

"It’s the same with [Luka] Modric. It doesn’t seem like he’s 36 because he still has the enthusiasm to play, the professionalism to be at the top all the time. They’re both really important for us. I think Karim became a leader of the team when [Cristiano] Ronaldo left because at that time he had more responsibility."

"Ronaldo was a player that was scoring around 50 goals a season and without him Madrid had more difficulties to score goals. Karim took on this responsibility and became more important for the team."

Los Blancos often relied on Cristiano Ronaldo during his tenure at the club, which left Benzema playing second-fiddle for most of his career. The Portuguese superstar left Madrid as the club's top scorer with 250 goals in 438 appearances across all competitions.

Benzema has been in scintillating form for Real Madrid this season and has led the team to its 35th La Liga title. The striker has scored 41 goals and provided 13 assists in 41 appearances across all competitions this season.

"This is the key to success" - Ancelotti on Real Madrid's squad this season

Ancelotti could lead Real Madrid to the double this season

Ancelotti also praised other senior members of the squad and explained why they have been so important to Real Madrid's success this season. He said:

“But this squad has a lot of leaders. There’s not only Karim but also [Toni] Kroos, Nacho, Marcelo, Modric. All of them are good leaders and this is really important. We’ve been able to build a good spirit in the squad and you can see that in all the games we play, even those on the bench."

He added:

"They support the other players and this is the key to success. When you have a good spirit in the squad, when you have players who are able to support the others, it’s really important for success.”