Cristiano Ronaldo fans furious with 'disrespectful' Real Madrid tweet as Liverpool lose
Some fans have accused Real Madrid of disrespecting Cristiano Ronaldo in the aftermath of their Champions League victory over Liverpool on Wednesday night.
Cristiano Ronaldo's loyal fans were left angered by a tweet posted from Real Madrid's official account following their narrow victory over Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday evening. Karim Benzema scored the only goal of the game at the Bernabeu as Los Blancos progressed to the quarter-finals at the expense of their English opponents, who were denied the unlikely prospect of a remarkable comeback after losing 5-2 in the first leg at Anfield earlier this month.
Benzema's goal marked the latest in a string of match-winning contributions from the 35-year-old, who has led the attacking charge for Real Madrid in the absence of Ronaldo over the last few seasons. He picked up his first Ballon d'Or back in October after helping the Spanish giants to win the Champions League and has continued to excel in the competition in recent months, chipping in with three goals in six matches as Real Madrid look to taste European glory for the second time in as many years.
The club's official Twitter account paid tribute to Benzema after his goal against Liverpool with a post which has since proved controversial, in which they dubbed him: "Mr Champions League." This is a nickname that has almost exclusively been reserved for Ronaldo, who is the tournament's all-time record scorer with a career total of 140 goals, leading to a fierce backlash from the Portuguese forward's devoted fanbase.
"Nobody loves Karim more than me but Mr Champions is and will always be Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro," said @CinicoKraviz, while @bryanludena79 replied: "There is only one Mr Champions League," accompanied by a picture of Ronaldo celebrating one of his many goals in a Real Madrid shirt.
Real Madrid were accused of disrespecting Cristiano Ronaldo in a tweet on Wednesday night (Image: GETTY)
@RMAJohan was also left frustrated by the use of the nickname to refer to Benzema and said: "This is total disrespect to Cristiano Ronaldo." A similar sentiment was expressed by @TheFootballLan11, who added: "That's a bit shameless considering that it is always gonna be Cristiano."
Meanwhile, another crystal-clear message came from @Ronny_GOAT, who simply wrote: "Disrespectful." And @whoisDazzler hit out at a perceived lack of appreciation for Ronaldo by demanding: "Show some respect to the greatest ever!"
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Karim Benzema scored his third Champions League goal of the season against Liverpool at the Bernabeu (Image: GETTY)
Benzema has scored a total of 89 goals in the Champions League over the course of his career, which makes him the fourth-most prolific striker in the history of the competition, although he still has a long way to go in order to get anywhere close to Ronaldo's unparalleled tally. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner remains 11 goals clear of second-placed Lionel Messi in the all-time standings, while Robert Lewandowski sits on a total of 91 goals in third place just ahead of Benzema.
The latter is doing the business for Real Madrid as things stand, though, and claimed the Man of the Match award for his decisive performance as the La Liga champions brushed Liverpool aside on Wednesday night. He insisted after the final whistle that he was delighted to have fired his team into the quarter-finals of this year's tournament, which they will be looking to win for a record-extending 15th time at the end of the campaign.
"It was a tough game against good opposition but we showed we wanted to get on the front foot from the off," Benzema told Real Madrid’s official website. "It was a great game for the fans and we're into the quarters. Football today is all about digging in. Everyone wants more but sometimes you have to suffer in a game. The important thing is to win it and get through."
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