Cristiano Ronaldo Told He Should 'Pray In The Morning And Say Thank You' For Karim Benzema

It means Benzema has provided the most assists for Ronaldo in his career to date.

The Frenchman has, however, flourished since his former strike partner left for Juventus in 2018.

Benzema has been in terrific form for club and country of late, and former Italy international Antonio Cassano, who spent two years at Real, believes Ronaldo has to "pray in the morning and say thank you" for his former strike partner's contribution to his career.

"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."

Benzema, who has scored 37 goals in 36 appearances in all competitions this season, has been touted for the Ballon d'Or by former Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand after arguably the best season of his career to date, aged 34.

"Karim Benzema, if they're not engraving his name on the Ballon d'Or I'll be surprised," he told BT Sport after last week's Man of the Match performance against Chelsea in the Champions League.

"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."

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