Benatia played with Ronaldo for six months before moving to play for the Qatar Stars League outfit in January 2019.
Despite playing with the former Real Madrid man for a short period of time, the Moroccan said he is convinced about Ronaldo’s special talent.
The Portuguese is well known for his industry when it comes to dedicating his time in training.
Benatia has recalled what Ronaldo once told him at 11 pm after being left on the bench for a Serie A game against Atalanta in 2018.
“For the game against Atalanta we were the two unused substitutes because three days later we were going to play again and the coach wanted to make rotations,” the former Bayern Munich and AS Roma defender told RMC.
“When we were on the bus back, Cristiano Ronaldo sent me a message: ‘What are you going to do now?’ I told him: ‘It is 11 pm, I’m going home. Why?”
“At that moment I realized that Cristiano is not a normal person,” the 32-year-old continued.
“When you work with him, you respect him more because you see that he sacrificed his whole life for football.”
In that said fixture against Gli Orobici, Ronaldo came from the bench midway through the second half to help his team secure a 2-2 draw with a goal.
