Cat comment was breaking point for Benzema with Mourinho

Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema says the day Jose Mourinho referred to him as a cat was the day their relationship turned sour.

Mourinho was head coach at the Bernabeu between 2010-13 and in March 2011 he made disparaging remarks about the France forward, who had arrived at Real the season before from Lyon.

The Portuguese boss had been irked by Benzema’s workrate – he wanted a tireless forward – and had previously joked that training could not start at 10am because Benzema was “still asleep”

But the comments that did the damage for Benzema were the ones referring to the 29-year-old striker as a cat.

Mourinho told reporters: “If I can’t hunt with a dog, I will hunt with a cat. With a dog you hunt more and you hunt better.

“But if you have not got a dog and you have got a cat, you hunt with a cat.”

Benzema was not happy, and speaking in a documentary called “LeKBenzema” broadcast on French TV, he said:  “We always had a good relationship, but after that, there were expressions and statements that were not necessarily well intended.

“I had the impression that it made him laugh. Even if he’s someone I respect, after a while I started to lose it.”

Benzema admitted he met Mourinho for a one-on-one discussion in which he said: “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.”