Houses of different architectural styles, most built in the 1960s at low cost at the expense of a social housing program, dilapidated facilities, a general sense of neglect, and hundreds of thousands of immigrants who fled Algeria after the end of the independence war in 1962, some of whom were called "" The black-footed "Les pieds noirs" who supported French rule in Algeria and opposed national independence, some of whom France was a haven from the violence and horrors of war, and with time, this place became a magnet for Arab immigrants throughout France.

This is the suburb of Bron, located 10 kilometers east of Lyon, the second largest city in France after the capital, and the place where the story of little "Coco", as his friends and eight brothers were called, began.

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don't laugh

Guim Bayaghe, the most famous Spanish football journalist, tells that Karim's love for football began at a very young age, as well as joining the Lyon Academy, which he joined when he was not yet ten years old.

Karim was playing for his local team, Bron Tyrion, and scored two goals against the Lyon under-10 team, so the academy coaches liked him and decided to include him.

(1)

From the first moment, there was a clear contrast between Karim's life on the field and his life off it; On the grass, everything was easy, the graduation between the academy teams was predictable and inevitable, and Karim was the brightest and most eye-catching talent of his team. Outside it, life was not so easy for more than one reason; Karim was not only an Arab Muslim immigrant, but was also born in Marseille, a city that has a historical enmity with Lyon at the level of football. (2)

These suburbs that arise around large cities are popularly known as "banlieue", and with time, and the increase in immigration to France, the word acquired another meaning expressing a certain style of living, deprived of the advantages enjoyed by the people of large cities, and located outside the priorities of the government In development, for the obvious reason that they see no reason to develop it.

All of this creates what economists define as poverty traps.

Closed societies are socially, culturally and economically isolated, producing nothing as much as poverty and crime.

(3) (4)

In such an atmosphere, Karim's shyness and introversion were remarkable, simply because they are not natural products of these conditions, and do not conform to the common mental image of the "Bonlio", and these are the ideal conditions for making a false first impression on someone;

That its characteristic is contrary to what is expected at first sight.

Perhaps if Karim was an angry, aggressive, arrogant person, his life would have been much easier.

This is what we would expect from the poverty, neglect and emotional deprivation of a child raised among nine children whose parents work all the time.

This person would have been easier to understand, and closer to the quick, superficial impressions we form in the first, and most important, moments;

This person was feared by many, and they would not have dared to make fun of him or provoke his anger.

This was the first misunderstanding in Karim Benzema's life;

Confusion between his calmness, shyness and introversion on the one hand, and his weakness and helplessness on the other.

A person from Bron with such qualities is a laughingstock to many, and when Paul Le Gun promoted him to the first team at the age of 18, that was their impression of him as well.

The team, which included names such as Michael Essien, Sylvian Wiltord, Florent Malouda and Eric Abidal, was always making fun of Karim's shyness and stuttering during group conversations. : "Don't laugh. I've come to take your place."

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misunderstanding

Karim had to convince the new coach, Jose Mourinho, of his potential in the midst of fierce competition

26 is the number of players usually included in Real Madrid's squad.

Imagine being the coach of the team and supervising 26 players a day;

Days, perhaps weeks, will pass without you speaking to many of them in private, giving them any instructions, or asking them about their circumstances, and in any case, you will need a lot of time to get to know most of them.

After Benzema actually took their place in Lyon, and became the star of the first team, and after four league titles, 66 goals and 26 other assists in 148 games, Florentino Perez was making his trip abroad with the aim of including a specific player, in a precedent that is the first of its kind, and after strong competition from Sir Alex Ferguson, who offered Lyon a larger amount and the player a higher salary, was Karim moving to Real Madrid with Ronaldo, Kaka, Alonso and Albiol in a historic transfer market.

(1)

26 is the number of players that Real Madrid usually includes, what if the list includes 7 or 8 stars, including the most attractive and star player in the world at the time, and the winner of the Golden Ball, this certainly makes your position as a shy and introverted young man coming from Brun difficult Extremely.

Add to this the fact that Pellegrini did not stay long, and Karim had to convince the new coach, Jose Mourinho, of his potential in the midst of fierce competition from a young Argentine who came from Marseille by the name of Gonzalo Higuain.

A coach who values ​​nothing in his players as desire, initiative, loud voice and aggressiveness.

This was the second misunderstanding in Karim's life;

Mourinho fell into a similar confusion, in turn, between Karim's calm nature, and his inactivity and lack of desire on the other hand, and as usual, it did not take long before the Portuguese began to declare his convictions in press conferences, even if it meant risking his relations with his players, or comparing them against Journalists and reporters.

If you're like Karim, and you're going through a bad period, Mourinho knows only one way to motivate you;

The classic paternalistic way of favoring one son over another to make him jealous, even if it means publicly insulting him.

"We will suffer without Higuain. His absence is a huge problem. On hunting trips, if you don't have a dog to accompany you, you will take your cat, for the only reason that you can't hunt alone. It's like with Benzema and Higuain."

(José Mourinho in December 2010 referring to Benzema after Higuain's injury) (5)

This was the second misunderstanding in Karim's life, and again, it was accompanied by laughter;

Three years ago, Karim Benzema said that this statement was what made him lose his respect for Mourinho, and that when he went to talk to him after that, he got the impression that Mourinho thinks the whole thing is funny, and this angered him greatly, and the conversation lasted for an hour, in which Karim said what he wanted, including the necessity That the Portuguese respect him if he wanted to be respected.

(6)

"After that, there were no cats or dogs or anything like that. I'm a shy person, but if you try to make fun of me I'll tell you what I think and I won't be afraid."

(Karim Benzema in an interview with French Canal Plus in 2018) (6)

reference zero

This incident was in December 2010, and somehow Benzema managed to end the season, scoring 15 goals in La Liga in 1800 minutes of play.

This means a goal every 72 minutes on average, but the average does not express what happened, simply because 14 of them came after Mourinho's statement, in addition to 6 goals in the Champions League, and 5 in the King's Cup that Real Madrid won at the end of the season, which Karim did not start Its final matches, as well as the two semi-finals of the Champions League, despite its remarkable brilliance.

It is worth noting that the three matches were against Barcelona.

(1) (7)

Karim got angry again and went to confront Mourinho in one of the team's camps. He went up to his room and asked him why he did not participate despite his performance. Apparently, this was the second correction to Mourinho's first impression, as he realized that his shyness and calmness were not evidence of his laziness or lack of desire, and since then, he became Karim is an essential element in most of the big matches.

In May 2019, Mourinho stated that his goal in all of this was to "turn a talented player into a thug" and that "it was never a conflict", but rather that he "enjoyed a lot working with Karim and training him". (8) But according to Ced Lo, the Guardian's Madrid correspondent, the truth was far from that; Karim was still suffering after a year in Madrid and had not been able to settle down mentally and psychologically, and this frustrated him greatly. Karim, who was 22, missed his family, friends and life in France, and hated Spanish food, which was "too greasy" in his view. (9)

What reinforced this sense of alienation was his failure to adapt tactically and technically;

Real Madrid had contracted a lot of players in the last two windows, and each of them was seeking to prove his worth by occupying the largest possible area of ​​the coach's plans, scoring as many goals as possible, and controlling every game and every attack, which deprived him of a great deal of freedom that He was enjoying it in Lyon, the freedom that Mourinho would not prefer to grant to any of his players even if it was Ronaldo himself, and by extension, the only remaining slot was that of the substitute striker for Higuain, a role that Karim never preferred, and he felt that it was limiting his abilities.

Karim began to feel regret for rejecting Ferguson's offer, in which he saw the new Cantona, and he became standing in the arms of the defenders like cats, without claws, without desire, and without freedom, and everyone expected him to play in a position other than the one he was accustomed to, and in a manner other than the one in which he excelled.

Karim suddenly had no fulcrum, no point of reference.

More important, which added to this wretched state, was that Karim was part of a political game bigger than he realized, according to Law;

On the one hand, the capital's press considered him the perfect embodiment of the failure of the third Galacticos of its owner Florentino Perez, as the Ronaldo deal was attributed to Ramon Calderon, who completed it before the arrival of Perez, and Kaka had failed to make his mark in turn, and criticism of Karim in particular escalated to an unprecedented extent after the resounding defeat of the Clasico against Barsa Pep, to the point that Marca called him "the dead" on their covers.

Photo.. the cover of the Spanish Marca, which took advantage of Mourinho's statement to joke about Benzema

On the other hand, Mourinho was seeking to sign a new striker of his choice instead of the injured Argentine, and this issue was in dispute between him and the management, first because both Perez and team manager Jorge Valdano were betting on Karim's talent, and secondly because Real Madrid had spent what More than 300 million euros in the last two summer windows, and from here Mourinho decided to wage his war with Valdano in the media, and the closer the January window approached, the sharper his statements against Karim became. (9) (10)

“We cannot start training at ten in the morning because Karim is asleep at this time,” “Karim can learn a lot if he sits on the bench,” and “I play with Karim because I have no other choice.”

This was a sample of Mourinho’s statements at the time, to the extent that Karim’s colleagues began to follow the example of their coach in a rare incident at the professional level, including Kaka, who was going through the worst moments of his career, who declared that “everyone feels that Karim needs to do more,” followed by Mourinho emphasizing That "Kaka has said what everyone thinks."

(9)

Briefly;

Karim was at war with everyone, but it was a war he did not choose and did not seek, and all he needed was a little understanding, containment and time.

In fact, the word "war" is not accurate at all. When everyone criticizes you, including your teammates, without a clear response from you, it is a massacre, not a war.

benzema hybrid

It was not fair at all, simply because Benzema was not the only one suffering, and because it was not only related to his style of play, but also to his personality, which did not suit a star or "Galactico" or even a player whom Mourinho prefers, and most importantly;

It wasn't fair because Mourinho's agenda didn't change even when Karim tried to improve, in fact, he used it as a shield against criticism whenever it came to him.

Exactly in the middle of the January window, Real Madrid was going to face Almeria, and then Mourinho decided to put Benzema on the bench and start Ronaldo as a striker. Karim made the equalizer for Granero after a clever disguise, despite that, Mourinho came out after the match to justify the draw against the team that finally finished the season in the league with 30 points and 20 defeats, as "he did not have a striker."

(9)

(Video; equalizer against Almeria January 16, 2021 by Karim Benzema)

The statement provoked Valdano to the point where he replied, "Yes, the attacker was sitting next to you on the bench most of the time."

In the next match against Mallorca, Karim got the first full 90 minutes two months ago to score the only winning goal, and two days later Mourinho completed the contract with Adebayor, then lost from Osasuna with a single goal in a match that Karim played in full and did not score, so he decided to sit him on the bench again for two consecutive matches.

We do not know whether the contract with Adebayor was the turning point in Karim's season or not. Perhaps the whole situation was a repetition of what happened in the first team dressing room for Lyon;

Laughing, sarcasm, and the thought that he would receive all these insults without a response, but what is important is that Karim responded exceptionally, just as he did in Lyon.

13 goals in the remaining 13 matches in the League, with only one goal created, which is exactly the opposite of what Karim was doing before Mourinho's statement, as the number of his decisive passes exceeded his goals.

Mourinho wanted a thug and Karim had already turned into a thug, and at one point the outcome of his goals in 2011 was equal to that of Ronaldo, and only Lionel Messi surpassed them in Europe.

What is remarkable about this incident was Karim's ability to radically change his roles this season, from a goal maker who does not care much about taking advantage of every opportunity to score to a ruthless thug in front of goal, but according to Lu, this transformation was not thanks to Mourinho, nor because Karim became more willing Suddenly, in fact, this transformation occurred despite the Portuguese's insulting criticism, and without a noticeable change in Karim's personality or the way he treated the game and his teammates.

(9)

This transformation happened because he simply settled down and found his point of reference after being a regular starter for the first time with Mourinho and for the first time since his arrival in Madrid in general.

This transformation happened because he was given so little trust and love, because Mourinho's political game with management had ended with his victory, and there was no justification for Karim's flogging with every defeat or draw as the only reason he stumbled.

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Karim was one of the first signs of a new hybrid generation of attackers with complex roles, not only waiting for crosses and opportunities within the region, but also participating in the process of building play and creating opportunities, constantly moving and requesting the ball and forming passing triangles with his colleagues, and removing the opponent’s defenders from their focus and concentration, and most importantly that He had the skills to get it all done;

The inclusiveness that Real Madrid coaches only appreciated when Ronaldo decided to switch roles, and even when they realized it, Real Madrid fans didn't realize it.

ronaldo shadow

Benzema (right) and Ronaldo

The only thing Mourinho and Valdano agreed on was that Karim was more suitable for Ronaldo's new roles than Higuain.

The Portuguese and the Argentine did not agree because their goals were the same, that is, to score more goals with each new match, and after the latter’s departure, the scene paved the way for the most important partnership in Benzema’s career, and most importantly in Ronaldo’s career as well, which produced the biggest misunderstanding between Karim and the world.

In September 2015, two Outside of the Boot analysts asked the often-unanswered question: How much influence did Karim have on Ronaldo's goals?

Is it worth it to have a specific player whose role is only to help Ronaldo score?

What if we replace Karim with a striker of the Aguero or Lewandowski sample?

(11)

The duo, one of whom was a loyal fan of Real Madrid, returned to the opponents that Ronaldo and Karim faced in the six years since they joined Meringue together, and compared the performance of the Portuguese with Karim and without him, to discover that there is a direct relationship between the quality of opportunities available to Ronaldo and the presence of Karim On the field, and that the accuracy of the Portuguese's shots and their positions are strongly affected by the absence of the Frenchman, despite the stability of their number, as Ronaldo's shots outside the goal increase by 18%, his shots on goal decrease by the same, and his goals from open play are greatly reduced in the absence of Benzema.

For this, Ancelotti would emphasize on every occasion that the BBC trio that won the 2014 Champions League, the King's Cup, the European Super and the Club World Cup would not have succeeded without Karim, not only because he was one of its members, but because he was the only member that makes the rest better.

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"Without Karim, nothing would have worked properly. I am fortunate that he is a player in this team."

(Carlo Ancelotti)

Of course, that period was marred by another political game that was greater than Karim's realization as well, and its hero this time was the racist side of France, and a funny case is still going on until the moment, accusing Karim of planning for several months to blackmail Valbuena with a sexual clip, hoping to get more than Just 100,000 euros, less than his weekly salary at the time.

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After a fabulous season in terms of registration and industry levels in 2015-2016, Karim relapsed again for the longest period of his entire career;

Two whole seasons of nothing, and this time the team was not suffering, at least in 2016-2017, when everyone, including the substitutes, locally and continental, glowed, and the old criticism resurfaced again.

That was the most difficult period in Karim's life on and off the field, because the reason for his sense of alienation was his homeland itself, and the constant, and sometimes provocative, praises of Perez and Zidane did not succeed in getting him out of this situation, especially as they did nothing but anger the fans, and remind Karim himself of his relationship The poison with them, and their lack of confidence in his abilities, as most of them were in response to sharp waves of public and media criticism.

Ask the numbers

Statistically, Ronaldo's departure had a clear positive impact on Karim.

Please don't misunderstand us, and most importantly;

Do not misunderstand Karim himself, because he more than once expressed his happiness with Ronaldo's partnership, although it was the partnership that brought him the greatest possible amount of trouble throughout his career, as the world was divided into two camps;

One of them believes that a player with Karim's talent could have played bigger, more important and better roles in any other big club.

(15th)

Statistically, Ronaldo's departure had a clear positive impact on Karim, but this is only half the truth, because no one dares to say the other half, which is that Ronaldo was negatively affected, and clearly also, after the partnership was dissolved and he left for Juventus.

If we ask the numbers, as Ronaldo always likes to say, we will discover that there are several layers to the matter;

The first is the primitive statistic that says that in the three seasons that Ronaldo spent alone in Turin, his goalscoring contributions (recording and industry) exceeded Karim by only ten goals, and on average, Karim participated in a goal every 103 minutes compared to 93 minutes for Ronaldo.

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The second layer comes with more scrutiny of these numbers, as the site "Understat" that specializes in the analysis of expected goals (Xg) tells us that it is not so simple, and gives us an idea of ​​the context in which these goals are scored, their value and difficulty.

The first thing that draws attention is the huge difference in the size of the shots between the two, as Ronaldo ends more of his team's attacks with hard shots and attempts to score, although the number of his goals from outside the area was less compared to Karim (4 vs 5).

Image.. Ronaldo's total missed chances in the league during 3 seasons with Juventus - source Anderstat

Image.. Benzema's total missed chances in the league during 3 seasons with Real Madrid - Source Anderstat

The second thing that catches your eye is that the duo scored almost the same number of low-quality chances (micro-circles - 20% chance or less) while Ronaldo had more medium and high-quality chances than Karim, which is evident in the expected goals scale (xg). Karim scored more than 5 goals above expected during the three seasons, compared to Ronaldo, who scored less than expected in two of his three seasons in Turin, so his score was logically less than it should be with almost two goals.

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Of course, one of the reasons for this negative difference is Ronaldo’s exaggerated individual tendency, and his exaggeration of a large number of his team’s attacks, allowing him to achieve the highest shooting rate for any player in the world, and with a huge difference from the next, as the average number of Portuguese shots per game in that period is about 6 shots , compared to 3-4 shots for the Frenchman.

All this contributes to increasing the number of opportunities available to Ronaldo at the statistical level, while in fact, they would not have been considered opportunities had Ronaldo not paid them.

(18) (19)

The chances that Ronaldo scored in the league during 3 seasons at Juventus - source Anderstat

The chances that Benzema scored in the league during 3 seasons with Real Madrid - source Anderstat

The most important point in this context, which gives all of the above a completely different dimension, is that Ronaldo was given an unprecedented advantage in this period over Karim, as he was given three times the penalty kicks allowed for Karim, 27 against 9, Ronaldo managed to score 23 of them while Karim succeeded in his kicks by 100%.

In fact, if we remove penalty kicks from the equation, then the duo's totals equalize Karim's lead in the number of goals made, which gives him a statistically small advantage in the scoring participation rate.

The next level of statistical analysis takes us to the context of building play, creating chances and contributing to possession, and it shows once again that Karim excels in almost everything that is collective, including the opportunities he creates in quantity and quality, while Ronaldo excels in all that is individual in dribbling and carrying the ball. .

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A little love

In our human societies in general, and in a relatively harsh masculine world such as football in particular, the need to love the masses is a sign of weakness and mental and psychological fragility, and paradoxically, Ronaldo, the partner of the hero of this story, was one of those who nourished this legend, along with models such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mourinho, and others.

But Dr. Mel Schwartz, a famous psychiatrist and alumnus of Columbia University, thinks, like many psychiatrists, that the opposite is true.

Courage is acknowledging our need to love those around us, and bearing the consequences of disappointments and disappointments, and that pretending to be strong all the time is nothing more than simply pretending, and this is the true weakness.

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In fact, the stereotype about the superstar who conquers the odds alone and does not need anyone is very naive, and most importantly, it is not true at all.

A few days ago, Daniel Taylor, the editor of "The Athletic", wrote a long report in which he interviewed a number of those who trained Ronaldo throughout his career at each of his stations;

Lisbon, Manchester United and Real Madrid, and the first lesson that everyone agreed on was that Ronaldo, like any normal human being, needs love, needs appreciation, and even to a very high degree from them.

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"The first lesson is to pamper him, to match his ego and shower him with praise. Ronaldo needs to feel loved, he needs to feel important, so you have to treat him like a king."

(Daniel Taylor, editor of "The Athletic") (24)

Taylor concludes from his conversation with Aitor Karanka, Mourinho's former assistant at Real Madrid, that the reason behind the failure of both Benitez and Mourinho to contain Ronaldo emotionally was their stinginess in praise, and put the team first above all, including Ronaldo, which, according to Karanka, did not like Portuguese very much.

One of Ronaldo's former coaches, who declined to be named, said that was Benitez's biggest sin.

That is, trying to adapt Ronaldo to serve the system and style of play, rather than placing it as a priority before anything.

Most importantly, Benitez did not satisfy Ronaldo's vanity, and when he was asked at a press conference whether the Portuguese was the best in the world or not, the best he could say was that he was "one of the best".

“We all like to be told that we are the best at what we do, and when we are really the best, we like it even more. When Ronaldo wasn't hearing it from me or Mourinho, he would try to prove himself in the next training or the next game, and then he would come to us and say: 'You see I'm the best?' Best?".

(Aitor Karanka, Mourinho's assistant at Real Madrid) (24)

Something similar can be said of Messi, a man whose international performance has been affected for many years for the same reason;

That he did not feel enough love from the people of his country, and that they pressured him, insulted him, and carried him what he could not handle.

This is what many observers and analysts like Ben Heyward and Jorge Valdano have said, and it is this sense of alienation that kills your resolve, and makes you feel that you are constantly being tested, and that what you do will not be enough anyway.

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This sense of alienation, which neither Ronaldo or Messi could endure despite their lack of exposure, and was a sufficient motivation for them to leave and retire, was also Karim Benzema's entire life. Yes, Karim's professional career was a huge misunderstanding; Everyone thought he wasn't doing what he was doing now because he couldn't, and they made their final judgment accordingly. No one believed his repeated statements that he was trying to help the team, that there was more to goals in a game as complex as football, and considered them pathetic arguments to defend himself. (26) (27) (28)

The unfortunate thing in this story is that the transformation that Karim accomplished after the departure of his most prominent partner was similar to the transformation he accomplished in Mourinho's first season;

No coach took credit for him, and it did not happen because Karim decided to change his personality and playing style, nor because he suddenly discovered buried skills in himself, but rather because he did what he always did;

He adapted to the new data to help his team, and with his usual altruism, he did not even think about contesting Ramos for penalty kicks to increase his scoring tally at the end of each season.

The most important thing is that this transformation did not happen because Karim finally got the love he deserves. In fact, the opposite was closer to the truth. Karim accomplished what he accomplished in light of the biggest attack he was subjected to in his career after two bad seasons, and after Ronaldo’s departure and the failure to include a “suitable alternative.” From the point of view of the residents of the Bernabeu.

The Real Madrid fans suddenly did not like Karim, but were forced to watch him occupy the heart of his team's attack, and he wishes it were not like this.

رغم ذلك، نجح كريم في تغيير الآراء واستمالة هؤلاء الذين رفضوه طيلة مسيرته. صحيح أنه ليس ميسي ولا رونالدو، ولن يكون مثلهما أبدا، على الأقل إحصائيا، ولكن لو كان هناك إحصائية تقيس النسبة بين درجة العطاء والإيثار من ناحية، ودرجة الحب والتدليل من ناحية أخرى، لتفوَّق كريم على الثنائي، ببساطة لأن ما منحه لريال مدريد وفرنسا ورونالدو كان أكثر بكثير مما حصل عليه في المقابل، وما يجعل كريم عظيما فعلا هو أنه لم يعبأ بذلك.

________________________________________________________________________

المصادر:

  • كريم بنزيما: كيف خرج المهاجم الفرنسي من عباءة رونالدو وبيل؟ – BBC
  • مباراة مارسيليا وليون تفور ولكن الدوري الفرنسي بحاجة إلى ديربي الأولمبيين – The Guardian
  • فرنسا الأخرى – The New Yorker
  • تعد منطقة محرمة: رحلة إلى الـ93.. أكثر ضواحي فرنسا إجراما – The Guardian
  • كريم بنزيما: "فقدت احترامي لمورينيو بعد وصفه لي بالقط" – ESPN
  • كيف فقد كريم بنزيما احترامه لمورينيو؟ – BeSoccer
  • سجل مشاركات كريم بنزيما في كل البطولات موسم 2010-2011 – Transfermarkt
  • مورينيو: "مع بنزيما.. أدرت تحويل لاعب موهوب إلى سفاح" – AS
  • جوزيه مورينيو يطلق قطة الحرب: كريم بنزيما – The Guardian
  • تاريخ انتقالات ريال مدريد – Transfermarkt
  • تحليل إحصائي: ما مدى أهمية كريم بنزيما لأهداف رونالدو؟ – Outside of the boot
  • كريم بنزيما يعود للأزرق – Sports Illustrated
  • بنزيما وزيدان وفرنسا.. عنصرية بمئة ألف يورو فقط – الجزيرة
  • كريم بنزيما.. حينما يتحول تفريغ المساحات لتفريغ غضب الجماهير – الجزيرة
  • بنزيما يتذكر نجاحاته مع رونالدو عقب لقاء الثنائي في مباراة منتخبي بلادهما خلال منافسات يورو 2020 – AS
  • إحصائيات رونالدو التهديفية – Transfermarkt
  • إحصائيات بنزيما التهديفية – Transfermarkt
  • إحصائيات الأهداف والأهداف المتوقعة لرونالدو – Understat
  • إحصائيات الأهداف والأهداف المتوقعة لبنزيما – Understat
  • إحصائيات رونالدو التفصيلية – FBREF
  • Benzema Detailed Statistics – FBREF

  • Why pretending to be strong is a weakness?

    - Psychology Today

  • Dr. Mel Schwartz - Psychology Today

  • Talent, vanity, and professional ethics .. What does Ronaldo's training look like?

    - The Athletic

  • Jorge Valdano: "Argentines don't treat Messi fairly" - Essentially Sports

  • Benzema: "Ronaldo scored 50 goals every season and we had to adapt" - Goal

  • Mourinho jokes that Ronaldo was in love with Benzema at Real Madrid because he was leaving him all the glory and helping him score goals - Daily Mail

  • Karim Benzema says he can play his 'real ball' without Cristiano - Bleacher Report