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| Karim Benzema of Real Madrid disappointed during the La Liga Santander match between Real Madrid v Valencia at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on February 2, 2023 in Madrid Spain. |
In last night’s fixture against Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu, two quick assists from Karim Benzema for Marco Asensio (52′) and Vinicius Junior (54′) were enough to beat the visitors as Real Madrid returned to winning ways in La Liga.
Just six minutes after the second goal, however, an injured Benzema begrudgingly left the field with a thigh problem. He now joins David Alaba, Ferland Mendy, and Lucas Vazquez on Real Madrid’s injury list.
A scoreless draw against high flyers Real Sociedad on Sunday meant that the current La Liga champions had dropped two valuable points in the league.
After Robert Lewandowski scored a late winner (80′) against Real Betis on Wednesday, Real Madrid entered the Valencia game with an eight-point deficit.
Though they are now only five points behind La Blaugrana after last night’s win, Benzema’s fresh injury is cause for concern. Eder Militao had already left the field in the first half after an injury, which is suspected to be worse than that of the Frenchman.
The injuries come at a terrible time for La Casa Blanca. The incumbent European Champions have two European fixtures against fellow 2021/22 finalists Liverpool in just under three weeks’ time.
In addition, they face Atletico Madrid in La Liga and Barcelona in the Copa del Rey just over one week later.
Whether Benzema will have recovered for these fixtures is as of yet unclear, but his potential absence will be a massive blow for a team that still has the chance to win three valuable pieces of silverware.
