Deemed too short physically, Karim Benzema was not called up by Marcelo Gallardo for the round of 16 of the Asian Champions League.
On Thursday, Al Ittihad will face Navbahor Namangan in the round of 16 of the Asian Confederation Champions League (AFC). A meeting in which Karim Benzema will not participate.
The French international was not selected by his coach, Marcelo Gallardo, to take part in this event. According to information from the Spanish sports newspaper A.S., this decision is explained by the restrictions imposed on foreign players in the competition. In fact, the Argentinian technician can only call five non-Asian players per match.
Benzema short of form
For this round of 16 of the Champions League, the former Monaco and PSG player chose to call on central defender Ahmed Hegazy, midfielders N’Golo Kanté and Fabinho as well as attackers Romarinho and Abderrazak Hamdallah. He probably feels that Benzema is out of form.
After being sidelined for several weeks by Al-Ittihad, Karim Benzema returned to training on February 5. The native of Lyon arrived 17 days late than the date initially planned. “His return depends on him and his physical condition”, Marcelo Gallardo said. On his return from vacation, the former Lyonnais trained alone in the Saudi club’s facilities.
