Benatia Backs Ronaldo for Sixth Ballon d’Or, Citing Edge Over Messi

The captain of the Atlas Lions and defender of Al Duhail, Mehdi Benatia, believes that his former teammate at Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo, deserves to win the Ballon d’Or this year.

The captain of the Atlas Lions is categorical: "Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to win the Ballon d’Or this year. Mehdi Benatia, who had the pleasure of playing alongside the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, confided to Calciomercato, arguing that the Portuguese has a better chance than Messi of winning the Ballon d’Or.

So, if we go by Benatia’s statements, Juventus’ elimination against Ajax in the Champions League quarter-finals in no way undermines the Portuguese star’s chances. Importantly, Ronaldo had a good start in Italy, scoring 28 goals and recording 11 assists in all competitions.

These achievements, notes Calciomercato, allowed Massimiliano Allegri’s men to "win the Italian Super Cup and the Serie A for the eighth consecutive time". And to add that CR7, as his fans like to call him, delivered "a historic match in the Champions League round of 16 second leg by scoring a hat-trick to save the day after the 2-0 defeat in the first leg".