Benzema diagnosed with hamstring injury
The Real Madrid forward has a muscle strain in his right thigh and faces a race against time to be fit for the Champions League return against City.
Karim Benzema underwent a scan on Thursday and has been diagnosed with a myofascial injury in his right thigh, the club announced.
Benzema has been ruled out of the match against Real Sociedad on Saturday and it is now increasingly unlikely he will be available for the return leg of the Champions League tie against Manchester City next Wednesday.
Benzema’s muscle strain is the 26th separate such occurrence the Real squad has suffered this season, a situation that has been causing plenty of consternation at the Bernabéu. Benzema’s season has been punctuated by injuries. He has had six layoffs totaling 12 games so far and this is his third hamstring problem.
Meanwhile, Madrid have not released any further information on Cristiano Ronaldo’s injury after the Portugal forward missed the match in the Etihad with a muscle problem picked up while playing against Villarreal, which may also rule him out of the return leg.