Cassano slams Ronaldo again – ‘He should be thankful for Benzema’

FT Desk

10 Apr 2022 16:30 BST
3 min read

Antonio Cassano has once again slammed Cristiano Ronaldo, saying that the Manchester United forward should thank former teammate Karim Benzema for his success.

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Ronaldo has been heavily under-fire in 2022, having scored in only two of his 14 games for Man Utd this calendar year.

Benzema, meanwhile, has been arguably the best player in world football with his back-to-back hattricks taking Real Madrid past PSG and on the verge of defeating Chelsea in the Champions League knockout rounds.

‘I have a lot of money!’ - Why Ronaldo is so angry with Cassano

And Cassano, who has been a long-term critic of Ronaldo and believes Man Utd should sell him this summer, again criticised the 37-year-old.

What did Cassano say about Ronaldo?

“In football, there are not only titles and goals, Zinedine Zidane scored few goals, but he is one of the greatest in history, Juan Riquelme too,” Cassano told 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.’

🗣 Antonio Cassano (ex-Italy) "Ronaldo is a manufactured talent. He is very strong, but he’s built his talent. Lionel Messi, on the other hand,is Federer,Jordan,Maradona. He’s something we’ll never see again in life, he has immense talent that’s a gift from nature."

[sky sports] pic.twitter.com/YjrJK6VNQo
— Messi™ 🇦🇷 (@SemperFiMessi) April 7, 2022

“Benzema, this year and last year, has scored 50 goals and assists. 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’s own future at Real Madrid past this summer has been in doubt as the club are fighting for the signature of Erling Haaland.

Haaland will leave Borussia Dortmund and Madrid are considered the favourites to buy him, along with Manchester City. Barcelona are also interested.

But if Haaland were to join, it has been reported that Benzema would ask to leave the club as it is hard to see where he and Haaland will fit in the same team.