Having played the most matches and the most minutes of any Real Madrid player this season, striker Karim Benzema will likely miss the remaining three matches with a hamstring injury.
Thank goodness the La Liga campaign is coming to an end. In a season that has been totally forgettable and completely disappointing, Los Blancos will be without their leading goalscorer for the last few weeks.
Karim picked up an injury late in the draw with Getafe on Thursday and will be forced to rehab for the next month or two at least. On Friday, the club released an official statement on the Frenchman’s status.
"“Following the tests carried out today on our player Karim Benzema by the Real Madrid medical department, he has been diagnosed with a muscular injury to his left biceps femoris. His recovery will continue to be assessed.”"
This is devastating news for Benzema who has been having a career year. With 30 goals in 51 appearances in all competitions, Karim was the guy for all three managers that have led the first team this year.
This injury was a long time coming to be quite honest. Karim has played 4,138 minutes which is by far the most on the team. He played the most minutes in La Liga and the second most in the Champions League only behind Toni Kroos.
Karim has been a workhorse all year and has not received the credit he deserves for all the hard work he has put in. Due to Mariano Diaz’s injury problems and no other striker available, Julen Lopetegui, Santiago Solari, and Zinedine Zidane all ran Benzema ragged.
Karim is not a young man (sadly). Playing at a high level for months and months on end with nearly no rest will wear on anyone. It is truly unfortunate Zidane did not recognize the striker’s tiredness and now it will cost Real Madrid for these last few league matches.
The only positive takeaway from Karim being injured is that Mariano Diaz will now have a shot to impress the coaching staff and fans after doing absolutely nothing all season in limited action.
We will keep a close eye on Karim Benzema and hope that this is not a lingering injury. It is always difficult to over come this hamstring issues and lucky for Karim, he will have the entire summer to rehab slowly and rest up.
Come August, the pressure will be back on the number nine to produce just like we saw over the course of the 2018/2019 campaign.