Karim Benzema is the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, the best in the world last season at Real Madrid, and no doubt their best player too. There is no club where the demands are higher though, and recently a number of people have been asking for Benzema to be benched by Carlo Ancelotti.
The French striker has been battling fitness issues all season, and rarely seems to complete a full week of training. The 35-year-old has not missed as many games since the World Cup, but neither does he look close to being at his sharpest.
Against Barcelona on Sunday, this was once again evident, as Benzema struggled to get into the game in the second half, and could not connect effectively with his teammates. Rather than the exception though, this has been the rule for Benzema.
While 19 goals and 5 asissts in 29 games would be excellent statistics for most forwards, Relevo point out that at this stage last campaign, Benzema was on 36 goals. Equally, he seems unlikely to his 15 assists of last season. There is little doubt he is not the same player as he was last campaign though.
Marca published a comment piece from Amalio Moratalia the following day after El Clasico that called on Carlo Ancelotti to bench Benzema – albeit more in a sense of resting the Frenchman more regularly.
Meanwhile Real Madrid correspondents Kiyan Sobhani called on Ancelotti to consider using Rodrygo Goes rather than Benzema given his current state of fitness.
Benzema’s lack of fitness has been a problem all season, and it is not unfair to say that Los Blancos looked better in the opening stages of the season without Benzema, than they do now. Should his struggles with sharpness continue, it will become a point of major discussion ahead of a Champions League quarter-final of transcendental importance for the season of Real Madrid.