| Intro | Moroccan footballer |
| Is |
Athlete Football player Association football player |
| From | Morocco |
| Type |
Sports |
| Gender | male |
| Birth |
17 April 1987, Courcouronnes |
| Age | 33 years |
| Star sign | Aries |
Medhi Amine El Mouttaqi Benatia (Arabic: المهدي أمين بن عطية المتقي; born 17 April 1987) is a footballer who plays for Italian club Juventus on loan from German club Bayern Munich, and for 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 two seasons.
Born and raised in France, Benatia represents his father’s Morocco at international level. He made his international debut for them in 2008 and represented 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.
Club career
Marseille
Benatia joined Marseille in 2003, and signed his first professional contract with them two years later. 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.
Roma
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.
Bayern Munich
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 3–5 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.
Loan to Juventus
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. He made his club debut on 27 August, in a 1–0 away win over Lazio in Serie A.
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. 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 matches played on 18 September 2016.
| Club | Season | League | Cup1 | Europe | Other2 | Total | Ref. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Tours | 2006–07 | Ligue 2 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | ||
| Lorient | 2007–08 | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Clermont | 2008–09 | Ligue 2 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 1 | |||
| 2009–10 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 1 | |||||
| Totals | 57 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 59 | 2 | — | |||
| Udinese | 2010–11 | Serie A | 34 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 3 | |||
| 2011–12 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 38 | 2 | |||||
| 2012–13 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 25 | 2 | |||||
| Totals | 80 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | — | 97 | 7 | — | |||
| Roma | 2013–14 | Serie A | 33 | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | 37 | 5 | ||||
| Bayern Munich | 2014–15 | Bundesliga | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 | |
| 2015–16 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 1 | |||
| Totals | 29 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 3 | — | ||
| Juventus (loan) | 2016–17 | Serie A | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Career totals | 231 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 273 | 17 | — | ||
- 1.^ Includes Coupe de France, Coppa Italia, and DFB-Pokal.
- 2.^ Includes Coupe de la Ligue, DFL-Supercup, and Supercoppa Italiana.
International goals
- Scores and results list Morocco’s goal tally first.
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 4 June 2011 | Stade de Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco | Algeria | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
Honours
Club
- Roma
- Serie A Runners-up: 2013–14
- Bayern Munich
- Bundesliga: 2014–15, 2015–16
- DFB-Pokal: 2015–16
Individual
- CAF Team of the Year: 2013
- European Sports Media’s European Team of the Season: 2013–14
- Serie A Team of the Year: 2013–14
- ^ “M. Benatia”. Soccerway. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- “Glo-Caf Awards Lagos 2013”. cafonline.com. 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- “Glo-Caf Award Winners 2014”. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
- “Aubameyang, Samatta rule Africa”. cafonline.com. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- “Die ESM-Topelf der Saison 2013/14 – ein Deutscher ist dabei” (in German). kicker.de. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
- “Serie A, Gran Galà del Calcio Aic. Tutte le frasi e i premi” [Serie A, Gran Galà del Calcio Aic. All the quotes and awards] (in Italian). Tuttosport. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2016.