Baskadia

Karim Benzema, the captain of Real Madrid, has acknowledged that the minute Cristiano Ronaldo left the team, his ambition increased.

Ronaldo joined Real in 2009 for a then-record £80 million transfer fee from Manchester United, and he left for Juventus in the summer of 2018.

Since the Portuguese have left, Benzema has become Madrid's patron saint.

Following a season in which he scored 44 goals for Real as they went on to win La Liga and the Champions League, the French striker was named the 2022 Ballon d'Or winner on Monday.

Onda Cero quoted Benzema as saying of Ronaldo: "It was an honor to play with him, he's a beast.

"The need to be more manifested itself in my mind the day he went.