Ancelotti Chooses Benzema Over Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic
Carlo Ancelotti has coached some of the greatest attacking talents in football—Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic—but when asked to compare them, his admiration for Karim Benzema stood out clearly.
In an interview with L’Équipe, the Real Madrid coach praised Benzema not just as a goalscorer, but as a complete player:
“You can find a more effective center forward than him, but he won’t help the team like Karim does. He has a quality with his back to goal that others don’t have. He’s unique. I think Karim could even be an attacking midfielder, a number 10.”
While acknowledging Cristiano Ronaldo’s prolific scoring record and calling him the best player he has coached in terms of output, Ancelotti underlined that Benzema’s football intelligence and link-up play made him irreplaceable in Madrid’s system, especially alongside Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
He also praised Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whom he coached at PSG:
“Ibra is more instinctive… For a striker, it’s not easy to be altruistic. But Ibra has shown that he also likes to be a provider. How many goals has Matuidi scored thanks to Ibra?”
While Cristiano Ronaldo, a multiple Ballon d’Or winner, remains the most decorated of the three, Ancelotti’s comments make it clear that Benzema holds a special place in his footballing heart—for his selflessness, vision, and ability to make a team function.
