Karim Benzema SCORES on his Al-Ittihad debut as former Real Madrid striker gets off to a flyer after £86m-per-season move to Saudi Arabia

Karima Benzema scored on his debut for Al-Ittihad to help them beat ES Tunis in the Arab Club Champions Cup. 

The 35-year-old striker joined the Saudi Pro League champions last month, signing a three-year deal after calling time on his career at Real Madrid. 

He became the second big-name player, after Cristiano Ronaldo, to move to the Middle Eastern country with a host of other stars in Europe following suit since. 

Al-Ittihad supporters got their first sight of Benzema as he started against Tunis with Jota, who joined from Celtic, also in the starting XI. 

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were tied 1-1 when the Frenchman cut in from the left and unleashed a curler from the edge of the box which found the top corner. 

The Frenchman moved to Saudi Arabia this summer for a three-year deal worth £258m

Former Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante also made his first appearance for the club

Al-Ittihad had trailed when Ousemma Bouguerra’s thumping volley in the 26th minute strike put Tunis ahead. 

But the Saudi club equalised six minutes later as Abderrazak Hamdallah netted with a close-range header from a cross by Benzema, who went on to score the winning goal. 

N’Golo Kante also came off the bench to mark his debut for the club after joining from Chelsea on a free transfer. 

Al-Ittihad have won the Arab Club Champions Cup once in their history, in 2004-05, and will be hoping to add to it this year. 

They will take on Tunisian side CS Sfaxien on Sunday in their second match of the competition.