Medhi Benatia

Medhi Benatia

Benatia in action for Bayern Munich in 2014
Personal information
Full name Medhi Amine El Mouttaqi Benatia[1]
Date of birth (1987-04-17) 17 April 1987
Place of birth Courcouronnes, France
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Bayern Munich
Number 5
Youth career
2000–2002 Clairefontaine
2002–2003 Guingamp
2003–2005 Marseille
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2005–2008 Marseille 0 (0)
2006–2007 → Tours (loan) 29 (0)
2007–2008 → Lorient (loan) 0 (0)
2008–2010 Clermont 56 (2)
2010–2013 Udinese 80 (6)
2013–2014 Roma 33 (5)
2014– Bayern Munich 21 (2)
National team‡
2005 France U18 1 (0)
2006–2007 Morocco U20 4 (0)
2008– Morocco 31 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:29, 5 December 2015 (UTC).
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 September 2013

Medhi Amine El Mouttaqi Benatia[note 1] (Arabic: مهدي بنعطية‎; born 17 April 1987) is a Moroccan footballer who plays for German club Bayern Munich and the Morocco national team as a centre back.

He began his career at Marseille, spending his time loaned out to Tours and Lorient before joining Clermont in 2008. Two years later he joined Udinese, spending three seasons there before transferring to Roma. After helping them finish as Serie A runners-up in his only campaign there, he was signed by Bayern for €26 million, winning the Bundesliga in his first season.

Born in France, Benatia represents Morocco at international level, making his international debut for them in 2008 and representing the nation at two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

Early life

Benatia was born in Courcouronnes, France, to a Moroccan father and an Algerian mother.[2][3]

Club career

Marseille

Benatia joined Marseille in 2003, and signed his first professional contract with them two years later.[2] After loan spells at Tours and Lorient, he left for Ligue 2 club Clermont on 1 July 2008 on a free transfer.

Udinese

On 1 July 2010, Benatia signed for Serie A club Udinese Calcio, again on a free transfer. He made 80 league appearances for Udinese, scoring six goals.[4]

Roma

On 13 July 2013, Benatia signed for Roma on a five-year contract in a €13.5 million transfer,[5] with Nico López and Valerio Verre going the other way on co-ownership as part of the same deal.[6] On 26 September, Benatia scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 victory against Sampdoria.[7] After further goals against Bologna, Catania.[8] and Chievo Verona in the second half of the season, he ended the season with five goals from 33 games.[9]

Bayern Munich

On 27 August 2014, Bayern Munich announced that they had signed Benatia[10] on a five-year deal[11] for a fee of €26 million.[12] Bayern Munich beat Manchester City, Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid, who were said to be also interested in signing him.[13] On 17 September 2014, Benatia made his official debut for Bayern in a (1–0) home win against Manchester City, for the opening match of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League season, where he played for 85 minutes, completing 93% of his passes.

In the return match at Manchester City, he was sent off in the 20th minute for denying Sergio Agüero a clear goalscoring opportunity; the subsequent penalty was converted by Agüero and City went on to win 3–2.[14]

Benatia scored his first goal for Bayern on 13 December, opening the scoring in a 4–0 win at FC Augsburg with a header; this result put his club 10 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table.[15]

On 12 May 2015, Benatia scored his first Champions League goal, heading Bayern into the lead in their Champions League semi-final second leg against Barcelona; although his team won 3–2, they were eliminated 3–5 on aggregate.[16]

He started the 2015–16 season in the German Super Cup, which Bayern lost in a penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw at VfL Wolfsburg.[17] On 14 August, he headed Xabi Alonso's free kick for the first goal of the new Bundesliga season in a 5–0 thrashing of Hamburger SV.[18]

Controversy

On 8 September 2014, after penning a five-year deal with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, Benatia admitted he was disappointed to leave Roma but was told he had to go because the club needed the money.[19] Upon hearing this, Roma President, James Pallotta, was furious and responded by saying he was sold for being a "poisonous liar".[20]

International career

Benatia was a member of Morocco's squad at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, and played in their first two matches of an eventual group stage exit, defeats to Tunisia and Gabon.[21][22] In the following year's tournament in South Africa, he played the entirety of all three matches as they again were defeated at the first stage.

Career statistics

Club

As of 9 December 2015.

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Other Total Ref.
Club League Season Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Other Total
Tours Ligue 2 2006–07 29 0 1 0 0 0 — 30 0 [23]
Lorient Ligue 1 2007–08 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Clermont Ligue 2 2008–09 27 1 0 0 0 0 27 1 [24]
2009–10 30 1 0 0 2 0 32 1 [23][24]
Totals 57 2 0 0 2 0 — 59 2 —
Italy League Coppa Italia — Europe Other Total Ref.
Udinese Serie A 2010–11 34 3 0 0 — — — 34 3 [24]
2011–12 27 1 0 0 11 1 38 2 [24]
2012–13 19 2 0 0 6 0 25 2 [24]
Totals 80 6 0 0 — 17 1 — 97 7 —
Roma Serie A 2013–14 33 5 4 0 — 37 5 [24]
Germany League DFB-Pokal — Europe Other Total Ref.
Bayern Munich Bundesliga 2014–15 15 1 2 0 — 7 1 0 0 24 2 [25]
2015–16 6 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 10 1 [17][26]
Totals 21 2 2 0 — 10 1 1 0 34 3 —
Career totals 220 15 8 0 2 0 27 2 1 0 258 17 —

Honours

Club

Roma[27]
Bayern Munich[27]

Individual

Notes

  1. ↑ Though frequently misspelled as "Mehdi", "Medhi" is correct. See, for example, his Twitter account and official profiles from FC Bayern and UEFA.

References

  1. ↑ "M. Benatia" (in Dutch). Voetbal International. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 Yokhin, Michael (4 February 2014). "Mehdi Benatia – how France lost the best of Generation '87". ESPN. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "INTERVIEW. "Lemerre n’y est pour rien…"". Telquel (in French) (N° 379). Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  4. ↑ Medhi Benatia career statistics at Soccerbase
  5. ↑ "Transfer news: Roma sign defender Mehdi Benatia from Udinese". Sky Sports. 13 July 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  6. ↑ De Martinis, Julian (13 July 2013). "Roma sign Benatia and a new goalie you've never heard of". ESPN. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "Another win for Roma". Sky Sports. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  8. ↑ "Mehdi Benatia's Match History". WhoScored. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  9. ↑ "Team statistics". A.S. Roma. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  10. ↑ "Mehdi Benatia: Bayern Munich sign Roma defender". BBC Sports. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  11. ↑ "Transfer von Benatia ist fix" (in German). Süddeutsche Zeitung. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "OPERAZIONI DI MERCATO BENATIA" (PDF) (in Italian). AS Roma. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  13. ↑ "Transfer news: Mehdi Benatia says Bayern Munich was obvious choice despite European interest". Sky Sports. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "Man City 3–2 Bayern Mun". BBC Sport. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  15. ↑ "FC Augsburg 0–4 Bayern Mun". BBC Sport. 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  16. ↑ Jurejko, Jonathan (12 May 2015). "Bayern Mun 3–2 Barcelona". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  17. 1 2 "Joker Bendtner ist zweimal zur Stelle". kicker (in German). 1 August 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  18. ↑ "Bayern Munich 5-0 Hamburg: Bavarians begin Bundesliga campaign in ominous fashion". Goal.com. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  19. ↑ "Transfer news: Mehdi Benatia says Bayern Munich was obvious choice despite European interest". Sky Sports. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  20. ↑ Pallotta, James (8 September 2014). "Statement by James Pallotta". Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  21. ↑ "Tunisia take bragging rights". Sky Sports. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  22. ↑ Fottrell, Stephen (27 January 2015). "Nations Cup: Gabon grab late winner against Morocco". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  23. 1 2 "M. Benatia". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Medhi Benatia » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  25. ↑ "Medhi Benatia". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  26. ↑ "Medhi Benatia". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  27. 1 2 "M. Benatia". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 August 2014.

External links

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