French striker Karim Benzema limped out of the field at half-time in the friendly match between France and Bulgaria after suffering what seems to be a possible ‘knee-injury’.
With not even a week left for Euro 2020 to kick-off, the injury of Karim Benzema, if serious, will be a big blow to France’s title hopes. Although the french squad is strong enough to compete for the title without Karim Benzema, missing the ace striker out at this point will be disastrous.
Karim Benzema made his return to France’s national squad after a wait of 6 long years. Until this year, he was exiled from the national team due to his involvement in the Mathieu Valbuena Sex tape scandal. After his return to the national squad for Euro 2020, he had just played two matches. His return has not been a pleasant one so far. In the first match against Wales, Karim Benzema missed a penalty and in the second match, he picked up an injury.
The severity of the injury is yet to be pondered upon, but from what head coach Didier Deschamps said at half time, the situation does not seem to be good.
Karim Benzema suffers an injury against Bulgaria
“It’s a knock,” Didier Deschamps told M6 at halftime. “He took a good hit on the muscle above the left knee, and he felt that it was hardening so we took no risk. The medical staff is currently at his bedside.”
Benzema got injured in the first half after a challenge from Bulgarian defender Ivan Turitsov. He tried to continue by disregarding the injury, but couldn’t continue long. He went down in the 37th minute and signalled to be subbed off. Striker Olivier Giroud then replaced Benzema as the number 9 was seen limping his way out of the field.
Benzema’s form this season
Although Karim Benzema has not won many accolades with the national side, he has won it all at club level. His performance with his club Real Madrid has been simply outstanding over the years and his consistency at the top level is unmatched. The striker has stepped into the shoes of Cristiano Ronaldo at the club and has turned himself into a goal scoring machine since then. This season, Benzema played 34 games in the La Liga, of which he started 33. He scored 23 goals and provided 9 assists, which speaks a lot about his contribution to his team.
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It is due to his tremendous performance at club level that Didier Deschamps had to keep the personal grudges aside and include him in the squad for Euro 2020.
France have been placed in Group F in Euro 2020. It is also being called the group of death as it includes 3 of the top contenders of the title this season, namely France, Portugal and Germany. The 4th team in the group is Hungary. Only two of these will qualify directly to the next round, whereas the team who finishes 3rd will have a ‘chance’ to qualify.
If Karim Benzema’s injury is indeed serious, which it seemingly does look like, France will truly have a hard time in the tournament starting from the league stage.
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