Karim Benzema might make a comeback for the Madrid derby in eight days, according to Carlo Ancelotti. The French attacker left the game against Celtic on Tuesday night due to a thigh injury, with the expected recovery time being two weeks.
His absence from Real Madrid's forthcoming matches against Real Mallorca and RB Leipzig does seem to be at least temporary. Eden Hazard will replace him against the first match, which starts at 14:00 CEST, according to Ancelotti.
When asked whether Benzema's fitness would be forced for the Madrid derby and whether he would then be joining France for international duty, Ancelotti was evasive during his pre-game press conference.
“We will see if Benzema can play the derby on Sunday. If not he will not go with France.”
Previously, Ancelotti was asked if he was concerned about playing without him.
“They are things that can happen to footballers. Last year he also had a small problem in December and I think that we covered him well. Without him the team played well against Celtic.”
Before commenting that there was no ‘natural’ replacement for the Ballon d’Or favourite.
“A natural replacement for Karim we do not have, because he is the best forward in the world. There is no substitute for him on the market, but you can substitute him with players with different characteristics.”
The Italian manager also confirmed that Thibaut Courtois had trained normally after missing the previous two days of training, implying he should be fit to face Mallorca.