Benzema made his debut for Real Madrid... against Al Ittihad!

Sometimes when life can't seem to surprise us any more, it does it again. The football world was left in shock after Real Madrid announced the departure of Karim Benzema from the Spanish club after 14 years.

Everything pointed to the fact that Benzema was going to play one more year in 'Los Blancos' and even that he was going to finish his career in the 'Merengues', however a multimillionaire offer made him change his mind. 

Saudi champions Al Ittihad announced on their Twitter the arrival of the star striker. The Saudi club's multi-million dollar offer was difficult to refuse for Benzema, who will receive a salary of 200 million euros for 2 seasons at his new club.

The curious fact is that the former Real Madrid player made his debut for the 14-time Champions League winners on 26th July 2009 against the club that convinced him to continue his career in the Gulf state, Al Ittihad. That match was part of a pre-season competition called the Peace Cup.

Real Madrid drew 1-1 against the Saudi club, with both Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo making their debuts for the Spaniards. The Portuguese did not play one of his best games but the Frenchman showed glimpses of his immense quality and even provided his first assist for 'Los Blancos' after he found Raul Gonzalez Blanco inside the box as the Spanish striker opened the scoring.

However, Aboucherouane's header from a set piece 8 minutes later was the equaliser. It was not the dream debut for Karim Benzema but what is certain is that it all started with Al Ittihad... and ended with them.