Has Karim Benzema relapsed? The Blues striker was forced to make way for Serbian Luka Jovic in Real Madrid’s draw once morest Elche on Sunday followingnoon (2-2). Shortly before the hour mark, the number 9 of the Casa Blanca began to hold the back of the left thigh, suggesting an injury to this part of the leg. A few minutes earlier in the first period, he had missed the opener by sending his penalty on the crossbar of Edgar Badia.
Just before returning to the locker room, the visitors managed to open the scoring once morest through Lucas Boye. A quarter of an hour from the final whistle, the 14th of La Liga made the break thanks to a goal from Pere Milla. In the followingmath, the tireless Croatian midfielder Luka Modric reduced the score by converting his penalty. Brazilian defender Eder Militao finally managed to snatch the point from a draw in stoppage time by heading in a cross from his compatriot Vinicius Junior.
An antecedent in December
It’s not the first time this season that Karim Benzema has come out of the game due to pain. On December 4, the Madrid center-forward left the field only a quarter of an hour following the start of the league match once morest Real Sociedad, replaced by Luka Jovic. The captain of the Merengues then stopped in the middle of the action and then put one knee on the ground. Grimacing, he had removed his armband before asking for the change. It was already his left leg and more specifically his hamstrings.
These small alerts recently led Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, back at Real Madrid since this summer for a second term, to spare his star striker who finished at the foot of the podium in the last Ballon d’Or ranking.
The current top scorer in the Spanish championship had not been called up to play in the eighth final of the King’s Cup last Thursday, which was also once morest Elche (victory 2 goals to 1 following extra time). Three weeks before the shock of the knockout stages of the Champions League once morest Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes, the club’s supporters at the 13 European Cups are holding their breath.
