Benzema out with injury – what does that mean for Real Madrid?

Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema is out 4-6 weeks with a hamstring injury. What does that injury mean for Real Madrid? Alex McVey takes a look.

Karim Benzema had to be subbed off due to injury concerns in Real Madrid’s disappointing 1-1 draw against Levante in the Santiago Bernabéu.

The club’s official medical report states that Benzema “has been diagnosed with a muscular injury in the semimembranosus of his right leg.” The semimebranosus is one of the three muscles that comprise the hamstring, the other two being the semitendinosus and the biceps femoris.

Typically, injuries to the semimembranosus come from stretch related activity rather than sprint related activity, according to Sports Injury Clinic. Stretch related hamstring injuries may not hurt as bad as sprint related hamstring injuries, but they can take longer to heal.

For Benzema, the estimated time of recovery looks like it will be four to six weeks. That’s a long time for Real Madrid to be without one of the key cogs in their offensive machinery.

Say what you want about Benzema’s wastefulness in front of goal, Real Madrid simply play better when he is in the lineup. As Tom Sunderland from the Bleacher Report writes:

"Real regularly looked better with Benzema in their lineup last term, scoring 81 goals in the 27 league matches he played—an average of three goals per game—compared to the 29 goals netted in the 11 games he didn’t play—an average of just 2.6 goals per game."

How will Zidane go about replacing the injured Karim Benzema? He’s got some options.

Ronaldo as Striker

Fortunately, Real will soon get Cristiano Ronaldo back into the lineup. Despite Ronaldo’s insistence that he is not becoming a pure out-and-out striker, he has increasingly been called upon to spearhead Madrid’s attack as a free-roaming no. 9.

With Benzema out of the picture, Ronaldo could play up top for Real Madrid. With the pace of Bale and Asensio flanking him on either side, Real Madrid could find themselves with a really interesting attacking force on top of Madrid’s traditional 4-3-3 setup.

Isco as False 9

However, Zidane also has the option to play Isco as a roaming attacking midfielder behind two attackers. Formations are pretty fluid, so you could call this a 4-1-2-1-2, a diamond 4-4-2, or a False-9.

Spain did something similar in their recent success against Italy. There, Spain’s coach Julen Lopetegui used Isco, Asensio, and Iniesta in a sort of rotating false-9 position. It’s possible to see Zidane choosing to pack the midfield and plug Isco in to try to make up some of the offensive firepower in Benzema’s stead, while also adding midfield stability that can be missing from Madrid’s attacking 4-3-3.

While this formation would make room for Isco who is in red-hot form of late, it would require sitting one of Bale or Asensio, and thus sacrificing some of the pace that they bring to the table.

Mayoral as Striker

Finally, Zidane also has the option to replace Benzema with an out-and-out striker in the form of Borja Mayoral.

Mayoral, age 20, is a Real Madrid academy product who has been looking for his opportunity to shine. He was brought back on loan this season precisely with the idea that he could help replace some of the goals Madrid would be missing due to the sale of Morata and the loan of James.

While that lineup would allow Madrid to play with an actual no. 9 at striker, it would force Zidane to do some serious shuffling and bench one of Madrid’s better players to fit that formation.

With Benzema facing an extended period of time off the pitch, and Zidane known for chopping and changing lineups at random, I’d expect Zidane to oscillate between some combination of all three of these options.

It’s good to know that Madrid has options. But right now, I’m still really wishing we had signed Kylian Mbappé.

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