Karim Benzema on Monday became the highest French goalscorer in history when his double helped Real Madrid win 3-0 over Mallorca, leaving them 10 points clear at the top of La Liga. But the Frenchman suffered what looked like an injury to his lower left leg, giving Madrid a severe headache ahead of Sunday’s Clasico against Barcelona. Vinicius Junior and Rodrigo, who opened the scoring, also faced problems in the second half. “We will see it in the next few days,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
“Those don’t seem like very serious things. Rodrigo was a knock, Mendy has felt something in his addict and Karim didn’t feel good after a jump. We’ll see if he can recover for Sunday.”
Benzema’s absence for the game at the Santiago Bernabeu will come as a serious blow to Madrid after the striker continued his stellar recent run with two more goals at Son Moix.
After scoring a hat-trick to help Madrid beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 in the Champions League last week, the 34-year-old’s penalty against Mallorca ended his career with 412 goals, putting him above Thierry Henry . French scorers’ time list.
Benzema then made 413 for him and three for Madrid with a superb header late, only to limp in apparent discomfort.
Madrid’s considerable advantage over Sevilla at the top of La Liga means Clasico will not carry the importance of previous meetings this weekend, even though Barca’s recent surge has led some to wonder whether a return is still possible.
Yet there is no doubt that Barcelona would love to rubberstamp their progress under Xavi with a win at home to their arch-rivals, while a win for Madrid would serve as confirmation of their dominance this season.
“We have the advantage and it’s good at this point in the season. We have to think about winning on Sunday, that’s all,” Ancelotti said.
Mallorca had better chances in the opening round, the first of them being Vedat Muriqi, who fired a wide shot at the back post after a brilliant cross from Brian Olivan.
Vinicius Junior was Madrid’s biggest threat and was unlucky to pick up a yellow card for his reaction to a high challenge from Mallorca’s Pablo Mafio, who was lucky not to be sent off.
The dispute also upset the home crowd and Mallorca had the advantage, their best chance of coming soon.
Dani Rodriguez clips a delightful ball over the top to run off Angel Rodriguez and the ball comes loose for the Mafios to take it just past the penalty spot. It was only Thibaut Courtois to defeat Mafio, but his scuffle ended.
At the end of the first half, Madrid’s momentum continued at the beginning of the second half and took the lead in the 55th minute.
Fede Valverde pressed on and then robbed Idrisu Baba and while Mallorca fans wanted a foul, Benzema played left for Vinicius, which had a simple ending.
Vinicius was also important for second, running out of trouble in midfield and playing Benzema from the left. Vinicus had held on until Benzema passed across the box, pushed by Olivan as he went to finish.
Benzema converted the penalty to break the French record and then added another late, moving brilliantly inside the post from Marcelo’s cross. He celebrated by leaping into the air but could not continue for long.
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