Karim Benzema has opposed Cristiano Ronaldo’s claim that he is the best of all time. He stated that Brazillian legend Ronaldo Nazario is more deserving of the title. The Manchester United legend, who spent nine years as Ronaldo’s teammate after they both joined Real Madrid in 2009, witnessed the Portuguese forward break numerous records throughout his La Liga career.  However, this didn’t influence his opinion of who he believes is the greatest of all time. Karim Benzema said: “Everyone can say what they want. If he thinks he’s the best in history, fine, then it’s him.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has urged referees to put more effort into protecting players after one of his players, Lamine Yamal sustained a horrific injury against Las Palmas last weekend. After the game, Yamal posted an image of his blood-stained sock on social media, sarcastically captioning it, “It’s not a foul!” Despite the injury, the 17-year-old managed to avoid serious harm and may still be available for the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night.  “I think he will be able to play, I have a positive feeling” – Hansi Flick has asked for “hard fouls” to be more seriously punished as a deterrent. “We can’t say that Lamine or certain players are specially protected, it should be for everyone. If they don’t get yellow cards, hard fouls keep being repeated,” the Barca coach said. “We have to protect them. I think it’s the sensible thing to do. Not just some special players, but all of them. In Spain we all like to see the one-v-ones, to see those footballers who are capable of getting past the defenders, they have to be protected.”