Medhi Amine El Mouttaqi Benatia[note 1] (Arabic: المهدي أمين المتقي بن عطية; French pronunciation: [mɛdi bɛnatia]; born 17 April 1987) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, who is currently the sporting director of Ligue 1 club Marseille.

After helping the side finish as Serie A runners-up in his only campaign there, Benatia was signed by Bayern Munich for €26 million, winning the Bundesliga in both of his seasons at the club.

[7] On 13 July 2013, Benatia signed for Roma on a five-year contract in a €13.5 million transfer,[8] with Nico López and Valerio Verre going the other way on co-ownership as part of the same deal.

[17] 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.

[20] 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.

[21] 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.

[31] After making only five Serie A appearances during the first half of the 2018–19 season,[32] in January 2019, it was reported that Benatia had completed a move to Qatar Stars League club Al-Duhail.

[37] Benatia made his international debut for Morocco on 19 November 2008 in a 3–0 friendly win over Zambia at the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca.

[38] He scored his first goal for them on 4 June 2011, opening a 4–0 win over rivals Algeria at the Stade de Marrakech, in qualification for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

[40][41] Benatia was Morocco's captain at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and played every minute until the 1–0 elimination by Egypt in the quarter-finals.

[42] On 11 November, he scored in a 2–0 win away to the Ivory Coast that qualified the Atlas Lions to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, their first such tournament for 20 years.