Former England defender Rio Ferdinand has praised Karim Benzema for being prepared to take a back seat to Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid despite "knowing inside he’s the top man".
French international Benzema joined Real Madrid at the same time as Ronaldo, back in the summer of 2009. The pair spent nine seasons as teammates before Ronaldo moved to Juventus and then back to Manchester United, and has stepped up in the absence of his former colleague.
Benzema is the top scorer in La Liga, and helped his club reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a sensational hat-trick against Paris Saint-Germain. And, on a night when the former Lyon man kept the goals coming against Chelsea, Ferdinand only had positive things to say about him.
"The fact he played as understudy to Cristiano Ronaldo shows a huge amount of humility," Ferdinand said on BT Sport. "To be able to do that, knowing inside he’s the top man, he’s at the table, he can score goals but is willing to take a step back for the betterment of the team is a huge, huge trait to have."
Benzema only scored 20 or more league goals in two of the nine seasons he spent in the same squad as Ronaldo. In the last of the nine, 2017-18, he didn't even reach double figures.
However, in the last four seasons, Benzema has scored 20 or more every single time. With 24 La Liga goals from 26 appearances this term, he is 10 clear of the chasing pack and just one shy of setting his own personal record for the competition.
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Ferdinand is well aware of the quality shown by Ronaldo at the time, too, having played with the Portugal star at Manchester United. However, his comments were echoed by his former England colleague Joe Cole.
"He’s been a foil for Cristiano Ronaldo, rightly so because Cristiano is one of the greatest of all time, but he played the left-hand side of attack so magnificently and now he’s the focal point, he’s showing how quality he is," Cole said. "He looks like he could go on for a few more years scoring goals."
Fellow pundit Steve McManaman, meanwhile, said Benzema was "maturing like fine wine". "The onus is on him now to play well every game," the former Real Madrid midfielder added. "He missed the Clasico and they got hammered, came back for Celta Vigo and scored two at the weekend."
As well as crossing the 300-goal threshold for Real Madrid this season, Benzema has rediscovered his goalscoring touch at international level since returning to the France setup in 2021. He scored four times for Les Bleus at Euro 2020 as they reached the last 16, and was on target in the Nations League semis and final as France won the trophy in October.
