Real Madrid started yesterday (Tuesday) the journey to defend the title of European champion, when they beat Liel Abde’s Celtic 0:3. Vinicius scored first, Luka Modric doubled with a fine goal and Eden Hazard sealed the score for the Blancos. Even before that, in the first half, Karim Benzema felt pain in his knee and was replaced as he went to the dressing room in tears, when Ader Militau also gave up his place at the beginning of the second half due to an injury.
In Spain, there were fears of a difficult injury for the Frenchman, who was just recently chosen as UEFA’s player of the year and is undoubtedly the great hero of Real Madrid. “The Blancos are not optimistic about Benzema”, it was reported in the local media, but after the game Carlo Ancelotti He calmed down: “After a first assessment it doesn’t look like anything serious. We have to wait tomorrow for both of them to do comprehensive tests, they may be suffering from discomfort, but on the face of it, it doesn’t seem serious.”
The coach summed up the game: “We played against a very intense team. We suffered a bit in the first half, we weren’t efficient in the last third, we lacked speed. In the second half we had all that, the second half was perfect, just perfect. The zar? I thought it would be his game, his position not as a normal striker, but slightly behind, could help us a lot. The outstanding cross? Yes, he played an excellent game, handled the ball a lot, was wonderful as always and his level is always high.”
As I remember, during the summer Ancelotti stated many times that he intended to use Eden Hazard as a replacement striker for Karim Benzema and indeed, the Belgian entered as a substitute in the 30th minute after the Frenchman was injured and could not continue. However, according to the coach’s words, it seems that when Hazard is on the field, Real is actually playing without a striker and Hazard is one step below the classic 9 position.
the blancos goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, added: “Hazar? It is very important for him to be good, after missing the penalty against Celta Vigo and two games in which he did not participate. He is a great player with a lot of quality, he proves to the coach that he can get more opportunities. Benzema? He felt something in the upper part of the knee and Karim is a player who does not take risks and always retires when he feels something. Hopefully it’s nothing, and if not, then we have substitutes who will play in his position.”
The one who once again excelled in the white uniform was Luka Modric. The Croatian engine of Real Madrid made his 100th appearance in the Blancos uniform in the Champions League yesterday and rose to eighth place all-time at the club. Cristiano Ronaldo (7) is ahead of him with only one appearance, Marcelo (6) with two appearances and in fifth place is Roberto Carlos with 109 appearances. The leading quartet consists of: Iker Casillas (152 appearances), Raul (132), Sergio Ramos (129) and Karim Benzema (124).