The current superstars of Real Madrid are making way more headlines for the wrong reasons about a lack of cohesion than for the right reasons like winning games on the pitch. After conquering the Champions League and La Liga in the 2023/24 season, Real Madrid have become weaker as a team with Kylian Mbappe despite all the individual brilliance of the Frenchman, who won the European Golden Shoe in his first season in the Spanish capital.
Under president Florentino Perez and even in other times in the club's storied history, Real Madrid have been known for being a club of superstars. In the 2010s, Real Madrid were the most dominant team in the world behind the incredibly talented trio of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
In a recent interview, via Madrid Xtra, Benzema spoke a little bit about what it was like to play with Cristiano. On top of saying that he enjoyed playing with Cristiano and learned a lot from being next to one of the GOATs, he also admittedt that he played "for" the Portuguese forward.
Karim Benzema said the quiet part out loud
Benzema said, “It was good playing with Cristiano. I learned a lot from him: the movement in the box, the pressing, the guy was scoring 50 goals a season. Even though I played for him, I still learned a lot.”
Maybe a rabblerouser or two will see the "played for him" remark as a dig from Karim Benzema towards Cristiano Ronaldo, seeing as how Benz had to take a back seat for Cris in order to help the main man get his numbers and shine to the fullest. But Benzema is just telling the truth like it is, and even though in 2021/22 he showed the world that he was always more than capable of being THE guy himself, the reality is that Real Madrid were even stronger in that period with Cristiano as the No. 1 superstar and Benz as the side kick.
The main thing is that Benzema never had bitterness towards Ronaldo, nor did he shy away from doing the dirty work to play "for" CR7. Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior need to look back on the real legends of Real Madrid's recent past and that three peat era and take what Benzema is saying to heart.
His comments about learning from Cristiano and playing for him should be taken by these two new stars of Madrid as advice. This is the mentality you need to have at Real Madrid. It is not about seeing yourself as the superstar but playing to the other star's strengths and helping each other be great, no matter what the role is. Cris got the shine because of his skills and ability to score goals, but Benzema eventually got his flowers, too, including for all the hard work he did as a dribbler to set up those chances for his teammate.
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