Ancelotti: Cristiano leaving helped Benzema

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has stated that star man Karim Benzema was greatly helped by Cristiano Ronaldo leaving the club.

Both Benzema and Ronaldo signed for Madrid in the same window but Ronaldo went on to achieve the unthinkable at the club while Benzema was a passenger for most of the ride.

For three seasons, they were part of one of the world's most dangerous attacking tridents, popularly called the BBC and made up of both of them alongside Gareth Bale, who will leave the club this season.

But since Ronaldo left and Bale became an unstable figure at the club, Benzema has stepped up greatly and is being mentioned as a potential Ballon d'Or winner.

The opinion that Ronaldo held back Benzema is popular among fans and manager Ancelotti's latest comments seem to support the notion.

He said to SiriusXM FC: "I have difficulty calling Benzema only a centre-forward because he’s a fantastic player that’s playing from the front.

"He’s not only a top scorer but he also provides assists for his teammates and partakes in the build-up of play. He’s a complete player and for us, he’s really important because he scores so many goals. He’s a top, top player and I think he’s the best right now.

"It’s the same with [Luka] Modric. It doesn’t seem like he’s 36 because he still has the enthusiasm to play, the professionalism to be at the top all the time. They’re both really important for us.

"I think Karim became a leader of the team when Ronaldo left because at that time he had more responsibility. Ronaldo was a player that was scoring around 50 goals a season and without him, Madrid had more difficulties to score goals.

"Karim took on this responsibility and became more important for the team. But this squad has a lot of leaders."

Six-way battle for Real Madrid winger in the transfer market

Elsewhere, a report has surfaced claiming that six clubs are battling for the signature of Real Madrid's Marco Asensio in the summer.

The RCD Mallorca academy graduate was signed by Los Blancos in 2014 for €3.9 million on a six-year deal but spent the 2014/15 season on loan at his boyhood club. He was loaned to RCD Espanyol the following season, and returned to Madrid in the 2016/17 season.

He has since been an important part of the season, used as both a squad player and as a key name on the first team sheet since then. He has currently fallen out of favour, however, with the emergence of teenage sensation Rodrygo Goes.

Madrid are now looking to cash in on the 26-year-old in order to accommodate Kylian Mbappe, who is believed to be close to a move to the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer from Paris Saint-Germain.

Spanish outlet Diario AS has claimed that Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and two other unnamed clubs have made enquiries for the Spain international ahead of a possible transfer in the summer. 

It is unknown if those clubs have approached the club or the player, but one thing is all but certain: Marco Asensio will not be a Madrid player next season.

Football Ant: The world's best football tipsters community.Get live scores, halftime and full time soccer results, goal scorers and assistants, cards, substitutions, match statistics, live stream and football predictions from Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1.