Juventus new signing Cristiano Ronaldo has praised Medhi Benatia as ‘a great defender’ and an ‘outstanding player’ despite their past experiences as opponents.
Benatia and the five-time Ballon d’Or winner have played against each other on several occasions, notable among the games was last season’s Uefa Champions League quarter-final fixture between the Old Lady and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
During the encounter, the defender was adjudged to have pushed Lucas Vazquez inside the box; a call that infuriated the former Bayern Munich man as Ronaldo dispatched the resulting penalty to dump the Serie A champions out of the tournament in April.