MARIANO DIAZ has opened up about the pressure of succeeding Cristiano Ronaldo’s esteemed No7 jersey at Real Madrid, which ultimately led to an anticlimactic ending.
Diaz, 32, joined Real’s academy in 2011 from Badalona and was promoted to the first team under manager Zinedine Zidane five years later.
The striker’s first stint saw him linking up with Ronaldo, 40, from whom he learned a lot while training together.
The Dominic Republic international then joined Lyon in 2017 but Los Blancos activated their buy-back clause worth £26million a year later after 21 goals and six assists in 48 appearances in France.
This time, though, his idol Ronaldo wasn’t around as he left for Juventus.
But Real had big plans involving Diaz, which is why they gave him the Portugal captain’s shirt number – which was previously worn by other club legends, like Raul, Emilio Butragueno and Raymond Kopa.
But the forward admitted this honour came with immense responsibility and expectation he struggled to meet.
The Alaves star found himself covering for Karim Benzema, even though he scored a big goal in the Champions League against Roma and a last-gasp winner in El Clasico that led to a 2-0 win over Barcelona in 2020.
That led to his exit in 2023 as a free agent after a total of 12 goals in 84 appearances across both stints at Santiago Bernabeu.
Diaz told The Athletic: “The No 7 may be the most important number ever worn by a Madrid player, because it has been worn by players such as Raul, Cristiano and many legends of the team.
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“So taking on that number was very nice, but at the same time it put a lot of pressure on me. I wasn’t taking Cristiano’s place, but it was still an important role.
“Benzema was playing at a very high level and they decided to use him as the main striker.
“I was there to cover for him when he wasn’t at his best. There was nothing I could do about it, I tried to take advantage when he wasn’t at his best.
“I don’t know if there are people who have read misleading news stories in the press and have a different image of me.
“But Mariano is a hard worker and a football professional. That’s what he is, he lives and breathes it. And that’s the image I want to leave behind.”
