Real Madrid boss calls Karim Benzema rumours ‘stupid’

After his Ballon d’Or-winning 2021/22 campaign, the start to this season has been a bit disappointing for Karim Benzema, as the Real Madrid superstar has barely featured in recent times. His last start came against Elche in mid-October and he has been in-and-out of the team due to fitness issues, since the Champions League opener against Celtic.

Benzema’s absence has been one of the key reasons behind Carlo Ancelotti’s team falling behind Barcelona in the La Liga title race. Xavi’s side go into the World Cup break two points ahead of Real Madrid.

There have been some rumours doing the rounds that Benzema has decided not to risk injuries because of the upcoming World Cup, having missed such a large portion of his international career. Ancelotti has not taken long to rubbish those claims though.

As reported by ESPN, the Real Madrid manager called the suggestions that Benzema was protecting himself ahead of the World Cup as “stupid”, as Ancelotti further added:

"“He’s going into playing a World Cup without the minutes he needs to be in good condition. He’s had a problem, it isn’t serious, he’s been working individually but his feeling to play a game hasn’t been good. Karim himself is the most disappointed, because he’s going to play a World Cup, as Ballon d’Or winner, without many minutes in his legs.”"

Real Madrid boss defends Benzema before World Cup

Benzema is set to represent France at the World Cup this time. While he he has won everything that is there to win at the club level multiple times over and even scooped up the Ballon d’Or recently, he has no major international honours to his name.

France are one of the favourites going into the tournament but have been weakened quite a bit through injuries with players like N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba missing from their squad. Both played key roles in their World Cup triumph in 2018.

Real Madrid were once again without Benzema when they took on Cadiz, but this time around, they had enough in the tank to get themselves a 2-1 win. Thus, they go into the World Cup break two points behind Barcelona, which although not ideal, is still much more manageable than a four or five point difference.