Ronaldo Nazario: “Benzema? He deserves the Ballon d’Or, I’ve been saying it for years and they criticized me”

Real Madrid legend Ronaldo Nazario, one of the greatest strikers in football history, spoke to Sky Sports Italia about Karim Benzema, Real Madrid’s chances this season, and more. The interview is scheduled to drop in full tonight after the Champions League games, but a few early nuggets have been released in the build-up to it:

“For the European Cup, Real Madrid are the favorites,” Ronaldo said. “They are not having a very good time but they are in symbiosis with this competition, and then they have Ancelotti on the bench, who is one of the best in the world. Benzema? He deserves the Ballon d’Or, I’ve been saying it for years and they’ve criticized me... but he deserves it, he’s a great striker”.

The Brazilian also spoke about how Florentino Perez is one of his mentors:

“As president I still have important things to do, but during my career as a footballer I have had great teachers starting with Moratti, who was like a father to me and who taught me a lot, and Florentino Pérez, who was great at reinventing football through the galactics”.

We will post the full quotes when the interview is released.