The French forward grew up wanting to follow in the footsteps of a legendary Brazilian striker and played with a modern-day great at Santiago Bernabeu
Karim Benzema admits to having grown up idolising one Ronaldo and changing his game to play alongside another at Real Madrid.
Having seen ‘O Fenomeno’ star for the likes of Barcelona, Inter and Madrid – along with collecting two World Cup winners’ medals – Benzema had the perfect role model.
He has gone on to become a fearsome goalscorer himself, with 250 efforts for Real seeing him secure a standing among the club’s top five marksmen of all time.
Of those he has looked to for inspiration en route to this point, Benzema told Movistar’s Universo Valdano programme: “Ronaldo was my idol from a young age. I started watching football because of him.
“I looked at his movement and I tried to copy what he did. But there was no one like him, I looked up to him so much. Some players had his speed, but not the ball control and skill at the same time.
“People think he only scored goals, but he could do everything. Strikers need to know how to do a lot of things, not just score goals, and he was the perfect example. I learnt a lot from him and [current Real Madrid coach] Zinedine Zidane.”
Benzema made his own move to Madrid in the same summer that another Ronaldo, Portuguese superstar Cristiano, was acquired by the Blancos.
With the five-time Ballon d’Or winner alongside him, a man who made his name as a goal-getting number nine had to alter his game somewhat in order to let others steal the limelight.
He had no issue with that, saying: “He [Cristiano] was there to score goals, and I had to change the way I played for him, and put aside my own desire to score.”
Benzema has since been freed to become Real’s main man, with Juventus luring Ronaldo away from Madrid in 2018.
An impressive return of 57 efforts over the last two seasons has been recorded, but a prolific French frontman admits to having found the going tough in Spain at times – particularly early on.
He said: “I was very happy to sign, but I wasn't ready mentally for everything that came with it.
“The team, the people, the pressure...when I was at Lyon, I was protected from all that by the president [Jean-Michel Aulas].
“It's a club that has won a lot of European titles and that has always had star players. It was very difficult, particularly given I was alone and spoke no Spanish.
“That first year was very difficult, as how you're feeling off the pitch transmits to your performances on it. I was very young and I didn't know the workings of the club. I thought I'd just go there and play. In the end I felt lost.”
Benzema did consider making a move elsewhere at one stage, but was talked around by Madrid president Florentino Perez.
The 32-year-old added: “He came to my house. I never thought he'd do that.
“When I saw him there, I forgot about the other clubs. I told him that he had my word.”