‘I lost respect for Mourinho when he called me a cat’: Benzema reveals details of bizarre meeting with Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho was Real Madrid’s manager between 2010 and 2013 – during that period he certainly lost the respect of Karim Benzema.

It all started when Mourinho publicly criticised Benzema’s goal draught by saying: “If I can’t hunt with a dog, I will hunt with a cat.”

Reflecting on how he felt after such comments from his manager, Benzema told Canal Plus: “We always had a good relationship, but after that, there were expressions and statements that were not necessarily well intended.

“‘I’m a football player, you’re my manager, I respect you, respect me as a player’. From then on, there were no cats, no dogs or anything. I’m shy but if you make fun of me, I’ll be straight. When you speak your mind, things are always better,” the striker added.

Whatever goal draught Benzema suffered then is now a distant memory. The 34-year-old has gone on to score 325 goals for Madrid. It’s a return that’s only bettered by Cristiano Ronaldo in Madrid’s history with 450 goals.