Medhi Benatia

Medhi Amine El Mouttaqi Benatia (المهدي أمين المتقي بن عطية; ; born 17 April 1987) is a Moroccan former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, who is currently the sporting director of Ligue 1 club Marseille.

Benatia is well known for his tenures throughout France, Italy, and Germany, he represented Morocco at the international level, making 66 international appearances, and most notably captained them to their first World Cup in twenty years.

Referee Michael Oliver awarded a 93rd minute injury time penalty to Real Madrid after Benatia challenged Lucas Vázquez in the box; the penalty was subsequently converted by Cristiano Ronaldo for a final 4–3 aggregate loss.

Benatia said after the game that Oliver's call made him "more and more disgusted by the world of football".

Benatia joined Marseille in 2003, and signed his first professional contract with them two years later.

Benatia began his career at Marseille, being 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 the side finish as Serie A runners-up in his only campaign there, Benatia was signed by Bayern Munich for €26 million, winning the Bundesliga in both of his seasons at the club.

He then chose to represent his father's Morocco at under-20 level, making his senior international debut in 2008.

After loan spells at Tours and Lorient, he left for Ligue 2 club Clermont on 1 July 2008 on a free transfer.

On 1 July 2010, Benatia signed for Serie A club Udinese, again on a free transfer.

He made 80 league appearances for Udinese, scoring six goals.

On 13 July 2013, Benatia signed for Roma on a five-year contract in a €13.5 million transfer, with Nico López and Valerio Verre going the other way on co-ownership as part of the same deal.

On 26 September, Benatia scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 victory against Sampdoria.

After further goals against Bologna, Catania.

and Chievo Verona in the second half of the season, he ended the season with five goals from 33 games.

On 27 August 2014, Bayern Munich announced that they had signed Benatia on a five-year deal for a fee of €26 million.

Bayern Munich beat Manchester City, Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid, who were said to be also interested in signing him.

He admitted he was disappointed to leave Roma but was told he had to go because the club needed the money.

Upon hearing this, Roma President James Pallotta was furious and responded by saying he was sold for being a "poisonous liar".

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.

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.

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 5–3 on aggregate.

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.

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.

In 2016 he moved to Juventus, initially on loan, and was later signed permanently by the club in 2017; he won three league titles with the side, and helped them reach the Champions League final in 2017.

Following stints with Al-Duhail in Qatar and Fatih Karagümrük in Turkey, Benatia retired from professional football in 2021.

Born and raised in France, Benatia initially represented his birth nation at under-18 level.

On 15 July 2016, Italian champions Juventus signed Benatia on a season-long loan for €3 million, with an option to buy for an extra €17 million at the end of season.

He made his club debut on 27 August, in a 1–0 away win over Lazio in Serie A.

On 10 March 2017, Benatia scored his first goal for Juventus in a 2–1 win over A.C. Milan in Serie A, at the Juventus Stadium.

In May 2017, Benatia walked out of an interview with television channel RAI Due when he heard racist abuse towards him in his earpiece.

The company apologised.

Benatia represented Morocco at four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

On 11 April 2018, Juventus were leading 3–0 away to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, a score that would have taken the game to extra time as Juventus lost the first leg at home 3–0.

On 9 May, he scored twice in Juventus's 4–0 victory over Milan in the 2018 Coppa Italia Final, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

In 2019, Benatia announced his retirement from international football, having earned 66 caps.

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

On 12 May, Juventus exercised the option to permanently sign Benatia until 2020.