Karim Benzema, for Ancelotti's unexplored territory

Straight

With 63 years and almost three decades on the bench, Carlo Ancelotti does not stop repeating that he is in unexplored territory in his career due to the interference of the World Cup in the middle of the club calendar.

The disorder affects all the coaches of leading teams, but there will be few who have insisted so much on it since August.

During the summer and autumn, he did not miss the opportunity to comment that what happened after the Qatar meeting was unknown and this Thursday he elaborated on it again, prior to Madrid's return to competition, in Valladolid ( 21.30, DAZN).

"Evaluating what is going to happen is quite complicated," he stressed.

“There is a calendar that demands a lot from us.

The Spanish Super Cup, which not everyone has [January 11-15 in Arabia along with Barça, Betis and Valencia];

the World Cup [February 1-11 in Morocco];

and until March 19 [clásico at the Camp Nou] we play every three days [if the Cup rounds are going on].

We will do an individual analysis of each one, also with the days off, because there are none.

Today Tchouameni, Camavinga and Modric have returned, and they can play in Valladolid, but afterwards we have to get them into good condition.

Now we have given them more rest than work.

They needed him, his last game was on December 18, ”developed the Italian, who did announce Benzema's recovery at the first exchange.

Just before the break, he had already seized on the lack of freshness due to the accumulation of matches to explain the drop in performance and results: three punctures in the last five games.

A general lament, pre and post Doha, which, however, was accompanied this time by a positive note: "We are better than at the end of last year," he assured, despite the fact that he was then the leader and was ahead of Sevilla by seven points, in 10 to Betis and in 18 to Barcelona.

He is now second, to two of the Catalans.

At the moment, for Zorrilla, he included everyone on the list, except for the injured Mariano.

"We will give priority to those who have trained the most here," he said.

Those who did not go to the World Cup (Lunin, Lucas Vázquez, Odriozola, Vallejo, Nacho, Alaba, Mendy, Kroos, Ceballos and Mariano) returned on December 1 and repeated the strength and career work of the preseason.

They were joined by those whose teams skidded in Qatar: Valverde, Rudiger, Hazard, Courtois (eliminated in the group stage), Carvajal and Asensio (in the round of 16).

Meanwhile, Vinicius, Rodrygo and Militão rejoined last Monday;

and Tchouameni, Camavinga and Modric, this Thursday.

In any case, Madrid, with 13 players in the World Cup, is not the one that lost the most elements.

Bayern sent 17;

City and Barcelona, ​​16;

and United, to 14.

Waiting for the Ballon d'Or

Waiting for the team to return, the name that is attracting the most attention is Karim Benzema, trapped since October in a series of physical problems and personal frustrations with the French team, from whose concentration he left on the run before the start of the tournament after another muscular accident (“touched in the quadriceps of the left thigh”, reported the French federation), convinced that they did not do everything possible to recover it for the cause.

On December 19, the day he turned 35 and only a few hours after

lost in the final against Argentina, he announced his departure from the national team.

His return a year and a half ago after almost six years punished for his participation (proven in court) in a sexual blackmail to his partner Valbuena had raised the stress in a bodywork that accumulated many kilometers and on which the car was very dependent. Madrid.

"We have recovered Benzema well," Ancelotti declared this Thursday as soon as he sat down in the press room.

“He came back on December 10 and was doing pretty well.

The first friendly he played 30 minutes and the second, 45. His condition has improved.

He has played very little in the first part of the season and he is going to show his qualities, because he has already done it in training sessions in recent days, ”added the Italian coach.

Despite the figures from Vinicius, Rodrygo and Valverde, Madrid awaits the growth of the Frenchman, who in the last two months has only played 26 inconsequential minutes against Celtic at the Bernabéu, and in the entire course he has barely scored six goals and one assist .

A "muscle fatigue", according to the club's report, kept him from Madrid before the World Cup and in Qatar he never started with France, dismounted in the third session.

The whites need to improve the face with which they said goodbye in mid-November and Benzema, to get closer to the version that crowned him with the Ballon d'Or.

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