Listen to Karim and stop using Ronaldo as a handy excuse

KARIM BENZEMA scored again this week, as Real Madrid lifted their first trophy of the season, the UEFA Super Cup.

More than any player he has blossomed since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo. And no doubt he is asked many times if his former team-mate held him back. ‘It’s true I’ve scored many more goals,’ said Benzema (right). ‘But when Cristiano was here we had a different style of play and I was providing more assists. But he really helped me, on and off the pitch.’

It was Gareth Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, who started this preposterous notion that Ronaldo’s brilliance came at the expense of those around him. Then he left and Bale singularly failed to fill his shoes. The same argument has been advanced at Juventus — who didn’t improve one place, or win a trophy, without him — and now at Manchester United, who started him on the bench on Sunday and promptly lost at home to Brighton. Ronaldo has been a nuisance this summer. He is undoubtedly not the force he was. In his prime, though, at Real Madrid it made perfect sense that the team worked to serve him and Benzema recognises that. He knows his goals are all the more vital simply because Ronaldo has gone.