Real Madrid took a great victory in Mallorca but that victory had its own costs. Karim Benzema left the pitch with a few minutes to play as Madrid had to finish the match in 10 men because all of the substitutions were already made. Earlier, on the 71st minute, it was Rodrygo who suffered a harsh tackle and had to leave the pitch to be replaced by Marco Asensio. This weekend, Benzema, Rodrygo and Mendy will not be called for the El Clasico.
Benzema scored his second goal and Real Madrid's third by heading home a Marcelo cross, but upon landing he appeared to hurt himself and requested a change, pointing to his leg and suggesting he had picked up an injury in the process of scoring.
Benzema's absence would be a serious blow for Carlo Ancelotti against Barcelona, in this of all seasons. His two goals against Mallorca allowed him to equal his best scoring season with Real Madrid, taking his tally to 32 and levelling the total he achieved in the 2011/12 season under Jose Mourinho.
Karim Benzema was not ruled immediatley out for Sunday's Clasico against Barcelona, but Real Madrid already believed that their striker had only a slight chance of participating in the match at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. Carlo Ancelotti however had no intentions to take any risks with Benzema, as Real Madrid's priority is to make sure that the Frenchman is fully fit for the Champions League quarter-finals against Chelsea.
The good news is that the final medical examination on Friday showed that Benzema's injury is minor. On Saturday, Karim did not start the training session with his teammates ahead of El Clasico, which means he will miss the big match vs Barcelona. It is clearly not a moment to clench the teeth and play with pain even if the injury is minor. Real is already 10 points clear and needs the main striker to be on top for the upcoming UCL matches.
Options to replace the Frenchman: Luka Jovic hasn't been a reliable understudy to the French forward, but he is the most natural substitute of Benzema. On the other hand, Eden Hazard, Gareth Bale and Mariano Diaz are in line to deputise as auxiliary centre-forwards, but these options may not make fans feel confident going into a Clasico.
Meanwhile, Rodrygo criticised the tackle which saw him leave the game against Mallorca injured, unable to weight bear on his right leg after a nasty challenge by Antonio Raillo, who arrived very late and planted his studs on the Brazilian's foot, which the referee only deemed worthy of a yellow card for the defender.
On Tuesday morning, on Instagram, the Real Madrid player shared two images in relation to the incident. The first shows the state of his ankle in a recovery brace, along with a 'good morning' and an emoticon of a pained face. The second shows the hard tackle by Raillo, which perhaps deserved more punishment. The good news is that the injury was not as bad as thought and there was no bone damage, thus the young Brazilian will be ready for El Clasico.
The Mallorca captain, in the heat of the moment just after the match, told Movistar that it should have actually been a foul against the Brazilian. "He fouled me because I touched the ball first and he kicked me, but he's wearing white and there's a different criteria," said Raillo.
However, shortly after those words, in the press conference, with his heart rate lowered after a shower and having seen the incident on television, Raillo changed his tune ever so slightly. He admitted: "On the pitch it gives me a feeling... I touch the ball... seeing the video it's a stronger tackle than it looks like...”
Madrid will definitely be without Ferland Mendy for the Clasico against Barcelona on Sunday night, with the left-back suffering a small tear in his adductor, while Eder Militao returned to training on Wednesday morning, with the defender having missed the trip to Mallorca with illness. Gareth Bale has been training indoors on Friday, but he is not suffering from an injury. His focus is on Wales' upcoming 2022 World Cup playoff against Austria.
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