– / AFP
The captains of the Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad clubs, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, on December 26, 2023 in Saudi Arabia.
FOOTBALL – He didn’t give him any chance. Cristiano Ronaldo, with his club Al-Nassr, crushed his former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema this Tuesday, December 26, during their first confrontation on Saudi soil.
Defending champion, Al-Ittihad and its captain Karim Benzema were outclassed at home (5-2) in Jeddah in a late match on the 17th day of the Saudi Arabian Championship.
Strongly criticized by the Saudi press for his lack of efficiency and his supposed lack of involvement, Benzema once again did not find the net during this meeting, unlike Ronaldo who scored his eighteenth from the penalty spot. and nineteenth league goals of the season (compared to 9 for Benzema).
A penalty from Ronaldo… after a foul by Benzema
Moreover, the first penalty scored by Ronaldo (19th) was after a foul… by Benzema. The Portuguese also became, during this match, the top scorer of the year 2023 with 53 goals (compared to 52 for the Englishman Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé).
Before the match, the two players met for a hug as you can see in the video below. Enough to rule out any rumor of hatred between the two players, who did not send a single smile to each other at the time of the toss before the match (when the referee designates which team will play on which part of the field).
With this new victory, Al-Nassr consolidates its second place, seven points behind leader Al-Hilal. After this sixth defeat (8 wins, 4 draws) Al-Ittihad remains sixth, twenty-two lengths from the lead.
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