Karim Benzema has been ruled out of the Spanish Supercopa in Saudi Arabia due to a leg injury, Real Madrid have confirmed.
Benzema, who turned 32 in December, has been in a rich vein of form over the course of the past 18 months – he netted 30 goals in total last season and already has 16 in just 24 appearances this season.
Of Algerian descent, the frontman has emerged as the most important and in-form player for Madrid since the €100m sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus in the summer of 2018.
His significance to the current team under Zinedine Zidane is demonstrated by his ever presence in attack and being favoured ahead of €60m summer signing Luka Jovic.
“After the tests carried out today our player Karim Benzema by the Medical Services of Real Madrid has been diagnosed with a lesion in the semimembranosus muscle due to bruising on his left leg. Pending evolution,” read a Madrid statement.
The striker has now spent over a decade at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu since joining from the French club and has scored 238 goals across 489 appearances.
Gareth Bale, Marcelo, Mariano Diaz, James Rodriguez, Lucas Vazquez and Brahim Diaz are also missing out on the trip.
