Madrid Derby: Benzema out, Militao Oblak fit for clash
It remains to be seen how Ancelotti will seek to fill the gap left by Benzema
Real Madrid will go into the Madrid derby on Sunday night without arguably their most key player, after it was confirmed that Karim Benzema would not play.
The French forward picked up a thigh injury against Celtic last week in the Champions League and has since missed matches against Real Mallorca and RB Leipzig.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti had said earlier in the week that if he trained on Saturday, he would play.
Benzema carried out individual work on Saturday morning but was not fit enough to take part with the rest of the team. Shortly after in his pre-match press conference, Ancelotti confirmed he would not be there.
“Benzema will not be ready for the match, he has started to work individually. He will have the break in order to come back after. I am clear on the plan.”
Marca covered the press conference and later on Ancelotti did confirm they would have Eder Militao back.
The Brazilian defender has also missed the last two matches but returned to training during the week.
“He is ready to play, he has trained well, he might play from the start or not. I have that doubt. I can only choose eleven and I have to choose well.”
It remains to be seen how Ancelotti will seek to fill the gap left by Benzema. Against Mallorca Eden Hazard occupied the role, while Rodrygo Goes deputised against Leipzig. Neither made a strong claim for the position.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid have received a boost as goalkeeper Jan Oblak has been struggling with fitness issues of late but will be available for selection against Los Blancos.
Speaking ahead of the match in his press conference, manager Diego Simeone was direct when he was asked whether Oblak would be fit. He trained as normal on Saturday morning.
“He will be in goal tomorrow.”
Mundo Deportivo covered the press conference, in which Simeone did seem to admit that neither of Stefan Savic nor Jose Maria Gimenez would be fit for the match. Gimenez has been absent for Atleti’s previous three matches, while Savic has featured just twice this season.
“Last season we struggled a lot, the time that Savic and Gimenez was often. We hope that this season that does not happen. They are important players for us and they give us alternatives to have more tools. We are all working to ensure that does not happen this season.”
Simeone’s side have been in rotten form defensively by their standards. Across their seven games, Los Rojiblancos have kept just two clean sheets and have conceded in each of their last four fixtures. Numbers that do not make for comfortable reading ahead of Real Madrid.
