MADRID
\nReal Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti says if the injured Karim Benzema is unable to play in next week\u2019s La Liga derby against Atletico Madrid it will rule the star striker out of contention for France\u2019s Nations League World Cup warm-up games.
\nBenzema, hot favourite to pick up next month\u2019s Ballon d\u2019Or, suffered a right thigh injury in Tuesday\u2019s 3-0 Champions League win at Celtic.
\nAnd Ancelotti said on Saturday: \u201cKarim? We\u2019ll see if he can make the derby. What\u2019s certain is that if he doesn\u2019t play the derby he won\u2019t be joining his national team.\u201d
\nWorld Cup winners France continue the preparations for the defence of their 2018 crown against Austria on September 22 and Denmark three days later.
\nAncelotti added of the French forward: \u201cThese are the sort of things that can happen.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a minor issue, but last year too he had a physical problem in December and we were able to deal with it.
\n\u201cThis year, it\u2019ll be the same thing.\u201d
\nThe 34-year-old striker hobbled off after half an hour of the game at Parkhead with Real going on to run out impressive winners as they kicked off their title defence in syle.
\n\u201cWithout him the team played really well against Celtic, especially in attack,\u201d Ancelotti observed, ahead of Sunday\u2019s La Liga clash with Real Mallorca.
\nWhile praising Eden Hazard for his performance in Scotland Ancelotti noted: \u201cBenzema doesn\u2019t have a natural replacement.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s the best centre forward in the world, and there\u2019s no substitute for him anywhere on the market.\u201d
\nWhether Benzema is fit enough to face Atletico will determine in part on tests but mostly on his astute coach.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got lots of information, physical and technical. I take them all into account but only to confirm what my own eyes are telling me.
\n\u201cIf my eyes tell me a player is well on the pitch but the data is saying he\u2019s tired, he\u2019ll remain out on the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MADRID Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti says if the injured Karim Benzema is unable to play in next week\u2019s La Liga derby against Atletico Madrid it will rule the star striker out of contention for France\u2019s Nations League World Cup warm-up games. Benzema, hot favourite to pick up next month\u2019s Ballon d\u2019Or, suffered a right […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-282941","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n