Benzema returns to Balaídos to deactivate the alarm

Karim Benzema returns to the rescue of Real Madrid. The French striker will be the great reinforcement of the leader against Celta, a momentous event after the severe correction received by the whites in the Bernabéu classic. The Chamartín team, who took advantage of the international break to recover troops and digest a defeat that caused blood in the locker room, aspires to heal their wounds in Balaídos to maintain the comfortable income that they continue to have in the League compared to their pursuers, contain the push of a grown Barça and load of morale ahead of the visit that will pay next Wednesday to Stamford Bridge in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Champions League against Chelsea.

In the last four games that Benzema has missed due to injury, Real Madrid have only been able to score one goal, the missile with which Asensio unsealed Granada at the Santiago Bernabéu. Hence, the return of the current Pichichi de Primera, author of five goals in his last four appearances at Celta’s stadium, is the best possible news for a squad that is obliged to deactivate the alarm set off by Barça as soon as possible and heading in a good disposition for an outcome of the championship in which Carlo Ancelotti’s team will still have to face poisoned trips to Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán and Wanda Metropolitano, among other cheating appointments.

Except for a last-minute miracle, the Reggiolo coach, who tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday, will have to hand over the baton in the band to his son and assistant Davide, a meticulous student of football who has grown professionally by his father’s side since the times in which Carletto trained PSG and will have to pass a litmus test, even though the background is promising for Real Madrid: twelve wins, one draw and only one defeat in their fourteen most recent visits to Balaídos in the League.

To do this, the Whites will need to maintain the good dynamics that they registered this season after the interruptions caused by the commitments of the national teams, with the defeat suffered at the hands of Athletic in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey being the only exception to a response notable to the ‘FIFA virus’ that in the remaining three cases led to goals against Granada, Shakhtar and Celta.

In the first round, the Olívico team was the scapegoat for a plethoric Real Madrid in the return of football to the Santiago Bernabéu after the exile motivated by the pandemic and the remodeling works of the Chamartín venue. Although Celta went up 1-2 at the break, a ‘hat-trick’ from Benzema, to which were added goals from Vinicius and debutant Camavinga, sealed the victory of a block that started the League as a team in mid-September. shot, but who is now consumed by the troubles that caused the debacle against Barça.

no experiments

Unlike what happened against the Barça team two weeks ago, the leader will not have to resort to experiments this time because he has almost the entire group in review status and will be able to form a gala team. Benzema and Mendy have overcome the muscular injuries that they dragged on and could go straight to the eleven, where Kroos is also expected, already recovered from the severe gastroenteritis he suffered at the beginning of the week. Except Hazard, operated on Tuesday to remove the plate from his right ankle; Jovic, injured in the ankle with Serbia, and Isco, whose back continues to torment, the national team break was overcome without major physical setbacks other than the logical fatigue for the internationals. But with Chelsea looming just around the corner, Real Madrid will have to measure their efforts.

Eduardo Coudet, whose Celta walks in no man’s land but aspires to finish off the League with a good grade, will not have that conditioning factor. The Galician team has accumulated three draws and two defeats in the last six games that have left them without options to fight for European positions, although permanence is virtually assured. The Argentine coach has Hugo Mallo out, who will miss the rest of the season due to an injury to his right knee, but included Santi Mina on the list, despite the fact that the attacker was unable to train this week due to the process in against him due to an alleged sexual crime for which the Prosecutor’s Office asks for eight years in prison for the footballer. Coudet made it clear that the man from Vigo “will be one more as long as there is no sentence” and asked that Balaídos not establish parallel trials.