Unfit Benzema storms out of training after Gallardo argument

Karim Benzema’s long-awaited return to Al-Ittihad came wrapped in controversy. After several weeks on vacation, being voluntarily ‘separated’ from the team, the former Real Madrid player returned to training at Al Ittihad... And it didn’t go well. Benzema came back into the fold without any of the physical preparation demands having been met, after having carried out only some physical training sessions during his days off. It all ended in the only way it could: tension.

The Al-Ittihad striker initially trotted out onto the pitch to start training with the rest of the group. In fact, the club, through its official social media accounts, even published photos of Benzema on the pitch.

However, moments later, the honeymoon period was over: Marcelo Gallardo, head coach of ‘The Lions’, ordered the Frenchman to leave in order to exercise individually, as Benzema’s own fitness was not in line with the rest of the team, according to reports from Arriyadiyah.

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Karim refused, arguing that he had completed the individual training sessions imposed by the club while the team stayed in Abu Dhabi, finishing their pre-season camp. As well as this, the player wanted to exercise along with the substitutes, the players who had not participated in the match the previous day and who were given a different, lighter routine to carry out by the manager.

Gallardo refused Benzema’s demands, and the Frenchman reacted by getting angry, eventually storming off the field of play, leaving the session. The tension remained until the next day, when Al-Ittihad broke their silence by publishing photos of Benzema in the gym, exercising with the injured players.

The attacker has also been left out of the squad for the next match, against Al-Tai, which will be played on Wednesday 7 February. The uncertainty continues regarding Benzema’s return to the playing field, and now even more so with such tensions.