Karim Benzema's long break

Karim Benzema laments after an action at the Camp Nou.AFP7 via Europa Press (AFP7 via Europa Press)

The reality of Madrid in the League was much more dire than the fears of Carlo Ancelotti.

The Italian got tired in autumn of warning about the unknown scenario that would open up after a World Cup stuck in the middle of the calendar.

The physique and age of pieces as indisputable for him as Benzema (35), Modric (37) and Carvajal (31) had him on alert, but what has happened since New Year's Eve has overwhelmed all his caution: between the Chimes and the day del Padre, Barcelona has taken 12 points from him.

Nobody has better represented the crisis in the championship than Karim Benzema, who in the last two months has only given Elche two penalties at home.

His continuous physical problems since September have kept him from scoring - it is difficult for him to attack the finishing zones - and his combined play has also lost weight, a drag for a team that lifted the League and the Champions League on his shoulders .

The last two weeks are a good illustration of his complicated present.

After drawing against Betis on Sunday the 5th (he was the white field player who intervened the least), he did not train with his teammates on Wednesday the 8th and Thursday the 9th due to a blow to his left ankle, according to the club, and he was left out against Espanyol on Saturday the 11th. However, with Liverpool in sight, he joined the group the following day, until a blow to the tibia against the reds

him back to the individual plan.

Only one day before the classic he returned to collective work in the prelude to another poor personal performance.

Permanent entrances and exits, and little continuity.

"It has remained in the middle of what it was last year", they admit in the club

“Karim has stayed in the middle of what he was last year.

The diagnosis is crystal clear.

The reasons are unknown ”, they commented this Monday from Valdebebas about a footballer whose renewal is pending.

A state that, at this time, can be extended to all those who fulfill the contract.

"Now there are more questions than answers in sports management," they added.

After his best season, the club gave Benzema permission to join the pre-season a few days later, knowing everyone, entity and coach, that his physique was increasingly delicate material.

When he arrived in Los Angeles, he assured that he had spent the summer training one day and another, although his campaign soon took a turn for the worse and entered a haze.

Since recovering on schedule from his first injury, in Glasgow at the beginning of September, it has not been easy to keep track of him due to a permanent sequence of stoppages due to discomfort, muscle fatigue and rest.

Three weeks before Qatar and trapped in a medical report that spoke of muscle fatigue, he was tested against Celtic for half an hour without having participated in prior training with the squad, an unwritten rule with hardly any exceptions.

Then, his quick departure from Doha without making his debut due to another injury and his disagreement with Deschamps, who is still kicking his tail, only increased his misfortune.

His season is a continuous slowdown due to injuries, discomfort and breaks

The growing number of games lost in recent seasons (from two in 2019-20 to eight last year) warned of a natural corrosion, accentuated by the extra stress to which his body was subjected with the temporary return with France.

However, his performance continued to grow until signing the best course of his career.

He stopped more and contributed more.

At the turn of the summer, however, the inertia changed and he entered a zone of twilight.

This course already adds 14 complete meetings outside;

And of his 11 goals in the tournament, five have been maximum penalties and another was scored by an Espanyol player (Cabrera) as an impromptu goalkeeper.

The white team was able to survive this time without Benzema in the first stage thanks to Valverde, Rodrygo and Vinicius, but that joint hand has had a limit.

Before the World Cup, Madrid averaged 2.4 goals per game in the League and 1.5 after.

A sinkhole that has led him to lose 15 of the 36 possible points in this section.

Of his 11 league goals, five have been from penalties and another from a goalkeeper acting as a player

Now all roads lead to Vini, the most active, Vini, although he has not scored in the league away since the end of August, weighed down by the noise that exists around him in Spain, to which he also contributes his dose of agitation.

In the classic, the coach and several colleagues must have asked him to calm down.

Meanwhile, Rodrygo has not celebrated since October 16.

Below the

trio , only Asensio and the youthful Álvaro Rodríguez remain.

When Carletto returned to the Bernabéu a year and a half ago, he found eight attackers: these four plus Hazard, Mariano, Bale and Jovic.

The last two are already gone and the first two, as if they had.

The club has always been reluctant to sign another

, flaked by the disbursements with Jovic (63 million) and Mariano (21.5), and 10 months ago it even considered the option of Borja Mayoral.

Waiting for the European holy grail, the collapse in the League has weakened the figure of Ancelotti.

The bad start to 2023 raised the inevitable runrún and this Saturday, before giving up on the classic, he had to dedicate part of the press conference to answering about his future.

The Italian, who in public always downplayed Benzema's physical problems, awaits a rebound from the Frenchman in the remainder of the Champions League and in the cupbearer's attempt to get even.

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