Antonio Cassano did not mince his words when comparing Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, noting that the former ‘didn’t have the quality’ of the latter.
The 34-year-old French striker was decisive in the Champions League Round of 16 second leg against Paris Saint-Germain earlier this week, scoring a hat-trick to embarrass the French side and send his team into the quarter-finals of the competition.
Speaking on BoboTV, Cassano compared Ronaldo and Benzema, praising the latter for his incredible ability to find the back of the net.
“The way I interpret football, Benzema is much stronger than Cristiano Ronaldo as a centre forward. Ronaldo wanted to score goals in every way, he broke the goal, but he didn’t have the quality of Benzema.
“Karim is unique, after what he is showing me I put him in the top five number 9s in history. Ronaldo, Van Basten, Lewandowski, Ibrahimovic… He’s there. In the last 20 years he is there.
“He is something unique, he is the third highest scorer in France’s history without six years in the national team. Benzema has the killer instinct of a nine and the quality of Zidane.”
The 34-year-old Benzema, who is contracted to Real Madrid until 2023, has made 33 appearances across all competitions so far this season, for a total of 2800 minutes. In that time, he’s scored 30 goals and provided 12 assists, being one of the most dangerous and clinical strikers in world football.
The Frenchman has continued to shine following Ronaldo’s departure to Juventus in 2018, a move that allowed him to be the main attacking figure in the squad.
#Cassano e il confronto tra #Benzema e #Ronaldo 🗣️https://t.co/UCqLmK5WSS
— CalcioNews24.com (@CalcioNews24) March 11, 2022
forza karim