Benzema shows that he is not like Cristiano Ronaldo with his statement after Chelsea match

Karim Benzema insists that he “does not play football to be the best in the world” after he was described as the most prominent striker in Europe due to his brilliance on Wednesday evening.

The Frenchman, 34, scored a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge to help Real Madrid score a 3-1 win over Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final. The return match will be held in the Spanish capital next Tuesday evening.

Benzema’s reaction to praise is different from that of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Manchester United star has confirmed his desire to win the most Ballon d’Or awards in history in 2018, as he wants to be remembered as the greatest player of all time.

Benzema is now one of the nominees for this year’s Ballon d’Or, however he was not enthusiastic about the accolade. “I don’t play football to be the best in the world,” the veteran striker said after Wednesday night’s show. I play for nights like this.”

When asked by Piers Morgan what record he would like to set before retiring in 2018, Ronaldo said: “The most Golden Balls in football history. I will love it and I think I deserve it .. I know that I am one of the greatest players in the history of football.”

Benzema and Ronaldo forged a famous partnership at Real Madrid between 2009 and 2018, winning 16 trophies – including four Champions Leagues. Benzema played the supporting role in this alliance, scoring 192 goals compared to 450 goals for Ronaldo.

But in the four seasons since Ronaldo’s departure, Benzema has scored 124 goals – and there are still several weeks left in the current season. The former Lyon player is enjoying the most prolific season of his career to date, scoring 37 goals in 36 matches.

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said: “Karim Benzema, if they don’t engraved his name on the Ballon d’Or from now on, I would be surprised. He was charming. In the last match, he was great and scored a hat-trick. Tonight he did the same and got another triple.”

Ferdinand added: “This is the end of his career and he [Benzema] is still scoring goals. He propelled his team to the top of the league, by 12 points. He’s the talisman, he’s the leader now, he’s come out of Cristiano Ronaldo’s shadow.”

He concluded: “It is the best number 9 on the planet for me. We can talk about [Robert] Lewandowski, a great player. Harry Kane is back at that level we all knew, a great player. This guy right now is another level. It is exceptional.”

Source: Mirror