The “Benzema case” at Gallardo’s Al-Ittihad

After missing last Thursday and Friday’s training sessions of Al Ittihad coached by Marcelo Gallardo due to personal problems, Karim Benzema left the city on leave from the club due to injuries. Without great performances since his arrival at the Arab team, the French footballer who won the Ballon d’Or in 2022 had to close his social media accounts due to the multiple insults and jokes he received after the defeat against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr.From this situation, different versions circulated on social networks regarding his absence from training on Thursday and Friday, for which he was not called up for Saturday’s match – which was later postponed to February at the request of Al-Ittihad. From the newspaper Marca, contacted by Real Madrid sources, they denied the versions of his “disappearance” from the city of Jeddah, and pointed out that the striker left there with permission from the club. He has a foot injury and has permission from the club and his doctors. There is no controversy in this regard. In no case has he ‘fled’ Jeddah,” they explained. Despite not having an exceptional season, the French striker managed to score 12 times in his 20 games in an Al-Ittihad shirt, below the 27 he scored in 32 games for Real Madrid in the year he won the top individual trophy. In this way, Gallardo’s team closed the year early, and will be back in action in 2024 with the match against Al-Faisaly on February 4 for the Copa del Rey de Campeones.

Original source in Spanish