Karim Benzema has revealed how Cristiano Ronaldo's departure has allowed him to take on a different role in Real Madrid's attack.
The Frenchman has scored a goal every 1.7 games across all competitions in the two-and-a-half seasons since Ronaldo made a €100million switch to Juventus.
But in their nine campaigns together at the Santiago Bernabeu, Benzema was instead finding the back of the net once every 2.2 games.
And the 33-year-old has now acknowledged that he had to sacrifice certain parts of his game for Ronaldo's benefit - not that he has any regrets over the matter.
"Cristiano's departure allowed me to play a different role. He scored 50 goals every year and you had to adapt to his game," he told El Pais.
"He is one of the best in the world and I was happy by his side."
Nine of the 18 trophies Benzema has won in his 12 years in Madrid have come during the two separate managerial stints of Zinedine Zidane.
Of his compatriot, he added: "He is an older brother for me, he is always there to advise me."
In a wide-ranging interview, Benzema also opened up on his boyhood sporting heroes, explaining: "In football, it's Ronaldo, the Brazilian.
"I admire [Mike] Tyson because we both came from the bottom and we went up little by little. We never had it easy, nor did they give us anything."
He also discussed his upbringing, adding: "I come from a neighbourhood where things were difficult. When I saw older boys well-dressed and with nice cars, what I wanted was to be like them.
"Money makes things a lot easier, but you don't need millions to be happy."
'Palace can breathe a little easier after Ipswich win' - Mateta
Jean-Philippe Mateta said Crystal Palace can "breathe a little bit easier" following their 1-0 victory over Ipswich Town.
The Eagles recorded their first away win of the season at Portman Road, where Mateta's second-half strike was enough to move them three points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.
Receiving Eberechi Eze's pass in the 59th minute, the striker accelerated away from Jacob Greaves, before neatly lifting the ball over the advancing Ipswich goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.
Mateta underlined the importance of the victory, which he believes will give Palace momentum heading into their next match against struggling reigning champions Manchester City.
"The start of the season was not what we expected, but we keep working," he told Amazon Prime. "Today, we have the away win, and we are very satisfied.
"We can breathe a little bit easier because we were under pressure. The fans, everyone was on us. Before the game, it was a must win. Even when you score, you stay focused and the time goes slowly. As soon as the ref blew the whistle, we were so happy.
"Because of this win, everyone is confident. We can't wait to play against Manchester City. It is a good time to play them. We have to stay focused because they are a great team."
"Very pleased with the result," Palace head coach Oliver Glasner concurred. "It was not about performing brilliantly. We expected a big fight and it was a big fight.
"It was an amazing goal, an amazing finish by JP [Mateta]. We had two or three chances to take the game away from them and didn't take them. In the end, we had to be a bit lucky, but I think we deserved to win.
"When JP gets the ball in the box, he is such a good finisher, and it is usually a goal. We're pleased with our defensive performance, we didn't allow them a chance from open play - just one from a set-piece in the first half and one in the second half."
Ipswich remain in the bottom three and the only Premier League side still seeking their first home win of the campaign and Kieran McKenna is desperate for them to address that as soon as possible.
"A disappointing night and probably many similarities to Saturday [the 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest]," he told Match of the Day. "It was a competitive game, an even first half, not the highest quality game, and not our best performance here.
"But we were right in the game and started the second half better, but then gave away a poor goal, and we were not able to produce the quality to open them up. We're not happy with the result and didn't make it the kind of game we wanted to give us a chance of getting a result.
"We've had some really good performances here. We've not turned one of those into a win, and until we do that, this will be held over us [no home wins] and that's something we can't remove until we win at home."
Wales make history while Scotland miss out on Euro 2025
Wales reached a major women's football tournament for the first time after beating the Republic of Ireland 2-1 in the second leg of their Euro 2025 qualification play-off on Tuesday.
The match was watched by a crowd of 25,832 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, following a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Cardiff last Friday.
Owing to the magnitude of what was at stake, the return fixture started as a cagey affair, though the hosts had the better openings.
The match remained goalless until the fifth minute of the second half, when Hannah Cain netted a penalty to put Wales one up. Substitute Carrie Jones got another 12 minutes later to put the visitors in dreamland.
While Anna Patten's late header set up a nervy finish for Wales, they were able to hold out and create history.
Elsewhere, Norway confirmed their place at next year's tournament in Switzerland with a 7-0 aggregate victory over Northern Ireland.
Goals from Caroline Graham Hansen, Frida Maanum and Synne Jensen helped Norway to a 3-0 second-leg victory in Oslo, having won 4-0 in the reverse fixture.
Scotland, however, will miss a third successive major tournament after falling to a 2-0 defeat away to Finland in their decisive play-off match.
Pedro Martinez Losa's side had 67% of the ball and rattled off 20 attempts on goal, but were unable to find the back of the net following a goalless draw in the first leg.
Finally, Sweden thrashed Serbia 6-0 at home to complete an 8-0 aggregate victory, emphatically booking their spot at next year's European Championships.
First-half goals from Filippa Angeldal, Kosovare Asllani and a brace from Stina Blackstenius had the game over as a contest, with Hanna Bennison and Anna Anvegard adding extras in the second period.
AC Milan 6-1 Sassuolo: Chukwueze brace powers Rossoneri into Coppa Italia last eight
AC Milan made light work of Serie B side Sassuolo as Samuel Chukwueze scored twice in a 6-1 thrashing to reach the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia on Tuesday.
The last-16 clash was already over as a contest by the 23rd minute after Chukwueze's brace, along with goals from Tijjani Reijnders and Rafael Leao handed Milan a 4-0 lead at San Siro.
Davide Calabria added their fifth 11 minutes after the interval, though Samuele Mulattieri managed a consolation three minutes later, before Tammy Abraham rounded off the win in the 61st minute.
Chukwueze opened the scoring in the 12th minute when a Reijnders ball over the top put him through one-on-one with Giacomo Satalino, and after his first effort hit the upright he tapped in the rebound.
Reijnders drilled home from outside the area five minutes later and Chukwueze netted his second in the 21st minute, curling beyond the reach of Satalino after an Abraham lay-off.
A no-look pass from Ruben Loftus-Cheek freed Leao to score two minutes later before Christian Pulisic's lofted cross bounced off the post and Calabria reacted quickest to convert in the second half.
Mulattieri's effort squirmed under Lorenzo Torriani to finally give Sassuolo something to cheer about, but Abraham finished off the rout, tucking his finish around Satalino just past the hour.
Data Debrief: Rampant Rossoneri
Milan's victory came by an impressive scoreline, though the underlying stats suggest the 6-1 win was somewhat flattering on the home side's performance.
Indeed, the home side accumulated just 1.89 expected goals (xG) from their 15 attempts, but the quality of finishing proved too much for Sassuolo to handle.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
