Pessimism with Benzema

The worst omens are confirmed: Karim Benzema has a small injury to the adductor. A mishap that comes a few days after the team travels to Bergamo to play against Atalanta in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. As this newspaper has learned, the coach, the medical staff and the player himself do not want to rule out his presence: on Sunday they will carry out a final test and on Monday they will decide. But it is very difficult, almost impossible. The feelings are not good and, with the important games that the team has on the horizon such as the derby or the second leg at the Di Stéfano, everything indicates that the decision will be made not to risk.

The cost could be too great. Zidane's politics it has always been to wait for the full recovery of the player And it doesn't seem like I'm going to change it now. There is also the alternative of an infiltration that would allow Karim to play without pain, but it would be a patch that could further complicate the situation if the injury worsens.

Is about the second injury from Benzema this year. The forward was already out for ten days in November due to adductor problems that left him out of the game for three games. Without him in the eleven, the balance this season is not good: a victory (Inter), a tie (Villarreal) and two defeats (Alaves Y Alcoyano, although against the Valencian team he played minutes in the second half and extra time).

The Frenchman's injury can be understood from the large number of minutes he has played this course. It is fundamental for Zidane as you show the 2.386 ' that accumulates in the legs divided into 28 games. In total, he has played 86% of all possible minutes. Among outfield players, only Varane has participated more than him (2,565 ').

A new loss for Zidane, who already has nine players in the infirmary. It is being an unfortunate 2021: the first team has already suffered more than a dozen casualties in just a month and a half. Currently, in addition to Karim, Hazard, Carvajal, Militao, Odriozola, Rodrygo, Valverde and Sergio Ramos They are in the recovery phase due to different ailments, most of them being muscular. In the short term, there are several footballers who seem to be in the final stretch, such as Militao, Odriozola or Hazard, but for now they have not been able to exercise alongside the group.