Karim Benzema given harsh nickname by Al-Ittihad fans amid Saudi Arabia struggles | OneFootball

After an illustrious 14 years at Real Madrid, where he won countless trophies, including a Ballon d'Or, Karim Benzema departed Los Blancos in the summer, joining numerous other footballers in taking his talents to the Saudi Pro League. The Frenchman joined Al-Ittihad, teaming up with Fabinho and N'Golo Kante among others.

Considering he scored 31 goals last season in Spain, it was quite a surprise to see the striker leaving Madrid for Saudi Arabia, but the general consensus was that he'd be a superstar in the league and quickly become one of its best players. That hasn't quite been how things have played out, though.

Despite being named club captain right off the bat, and having some solid individual performances, Benzema hasn't had the best of starts to life in Saudi Arabia, and it seems the fans of Al-Ittihad have even turned on him now, with a brutal new nickname surfacing recently. How have things reached this point, though? Well, that's what we're here to tell you.

Benzema has essentially been called the 'Son of Defeat'

It's in response to his team's struggles

Having won the Saudi Pro League last season, you'd have been forgiven for expecting Al-Ittihad to repeat that feat this time around. Especially after adding some huge names like Benzema and Kante to their ranks. These are Champions League-winning players with world-class talent, after all.

Somehow, though, the club have taken a huge step back in comparison to last season. They've already lost three times as many games this year as they did throughout the entirety of the last campaign. The club find themselves 22 points behind league leaders Al-Hilal already and fans are fed up with their struggles.

According to French outlet L'Equipe, they've resorted to labelling Benzema 'Ben-Hazima' which translates to the 'Son of Defeat'. The supporters clearly aren't happy with his leadership and a lot of the club's struggles are being laid at his feet. Things haven't been plain sailing from the get-go, though, with the Frenchman also falling out with the club's former manager earlier in the campaign too.

Benzema has had a solid return statistically

But fans are tired of his work-rate

In terms of his actual production on the pitch individually, Benzema isn't having that bad of a time in Saudi Arabia. He's scored 12 times and bagged five assists in 20 appearances across all competitions for Al-Ittihad so far. 17 goal contributions in his first 20 games isn't a bad return at all and on paper, it's hard to see why the club's fans have turned on the Frenchman.

It's everything outside of his stats that has seen supporters turn on him. According to Goal earlier this season, Al-Ittihad fans believe Benzema is lazy and has been unwilling to play his part in the team's overall performances outside of his own individual stats. They want to see more from him and haven't as of yet.

Their frustrations came to a head during Al-Ittihad's meeting with Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr. Despite taking the lead, Benzema's side lost the game 5-2, and the turning point was when he gave away a penalty, allowing his former Madrid teammate to equalise from the spot. This prompted boos from the supporters and it led to an interesting reaction from the forward on social media.

Benzema has deleted his Instagram account

He left the social media site after his relationship with the fans broke down

One of the biggest issues about fans these days is their ability to send abuse to celebrities online if they aren't impressed with them. It's an issue that continues to grow, with fans taking pleasure in trolling and abusing celebrities through anonymous accounts and it's hard for some people to take.

Benzema may be one of those as he decided to delete his Instagram account shortly after the loss to Al-Nassr. Whether that's actually down to abuse he was receiving from fans, or another reason entirely remains to be seen, but it would be a crazy coincidence if it was for something else.

The decision to delete his account seems to indicate further that his relationship with the Al-Ittihad supporters has turned very, very sour, and it's hard to predict where things go from here. Saudi Arabian journalist didn't hold back when talking about Benzema's struggles either in a scathing interview with Action Avec Walid, via talkSPORT.

Another reason that fans might have turned on him, is the role he played in the sacking of their successful manager, Nuno Espirito Santo.

Benzema couldn't get on the same page as Nuno Espirito Santo

The club sacked the manager despite winning the league with him last season

Early in his time at Al-Ittihad, it was made quite clear that Benzema wasn't comfortable at the club and he butted heads with the side's manager, Espirito Santo. The two couldn't get on the same page and it eventually led to the team siding with the former Madrid striker and firing their coach.

Some fans didn't take too kindly to this news as Espirito Santo had already led them to a league title last season and had done more than enough to earn their backing, while Benzema hadn't come close to matching that yet. He was fighting an uphill battle from there and it's safe to say he's done very little to win fans over.

With his future in Saudi Arabia now looking to be up in the air, speculation will soon begin to run wild about where the 36-year-old will eventually end up. He's clearly shown over the last couple of seasons that he has what it takes to contribute at a high level despite his age, but whether that means he'll be afforded another chance at a top team in Europe remains to be seen. Of course, he's not the only superstar who moved to Saudi this summer and is finding it hard to settle in, with former Liverpool man Roberto Firmino also reportedly unsettled and ready to move on from the Saudi Pro League already.

Regardless of what happens, their struggles only make Ronaldo's excellent form since joining Al-Nassr all the more impressive considering he's scored more goals in 2023 than any other footballer on the planet.