Real Madrid’s Benzema Out for Three Weeks
Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema picked up a hamstring injury while on international duty with France and is expected to be out for up to three weeks. The injury will see him miss out on La Liga clashes with Levante, Celta Vigo and possibly Las Palmas, as well as at least one leg of Real Madrid’s two upcoming Champions League matches against Paris Saint-Germain.
After not finding the net for Les Bleus for a year, Benzema was on-form in France’s 4-0 win over Armenia in Euro qualifying on Thursday. The striker set up Antoine Griezmann for France’s opener before finding two goals of his own in the span of just two minutes.
But it was on the second of these goals that he suffered the injury that saw him replaced by Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud.
On Friday morning, the French Football Federation revealed that an MRI had confirmed it as a grade one hamstring injury; of the three possible types of injuries to the hamstring, grade one is the least serious.
Recovering from such an injury can take a few days or up to three weeks. As a result of the injury, Benzema has withdrawn from the French camp ahead of Sunday’s friendly with Denmark.
With six goals in six La Liga games, Benzema is currently Real Madrid’s top scorer on the season. The former Lyon man’s injury will likely open up an opportunity for Jese Rodriguez to get a run of games up top for Los Blancos.
Following the international break, Real Madrid resumes its La Liga campaign next Saturday, October 17 when it welcomes Levante to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.