Benzema dropped from Al-Ittihad’s Champions League squad despite ‘enviable’ physical condition

Robin Bairner

• 13 Feb 2024 06:57 CST
• 3 min read

Karim Benzema’s nightmare at Al-Ittihad continues, with the France international forward set to be left out of his club’s Asian Champions League squad by manager Marcelo Gallardo.

Benzema moved to the Saudi Pro League club last summer when he was the reigning Ballon d’Or holder, but despite scoring 12 goals in 20 games for Al-Ittihad, he has served only to attract controversy.

The former Real Madrid and Lyon striker’s attitude has been criticised, with the 36-year-old accused of being unprofessional.

During the January transfer window, he was persistently linked with a return to Europe.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United were all associated with a potential move for the legendary striker, while Real Madrid were tentatively linked with the forward. Lyon also emerged as an option for the player, who proved too expensive for all of these teams to secure.

He went a month without training with the first team over the duration of the winter break but is now back working with his teammates.

Although Benzema is working with the squad, he will not feature in the first leg encounter for the round of 16 Asian Champions League encounter with Navbahor Namangan of Uzbekistan, according to reports from Spain.

Benzema's embarrassing Champions League snub

AS states that Benzema will be left out of the team that will travel for the first leg of the match next Thursday.

There is a restriction on the number of foreign players who can feature in these matches, with the number capped at five as opposed to eight in the Saudi Pro League.

“Benzema will stay in Jeddah as he is not among the five non-Asian players chosen by Gallardo. The Argentine has opted for the Egyptian centre-back Ahmed Hegazy; the midfielders N'Golo Kante and Fabinho, and the attackers Romarinho and Abderrazak Hamdallah,” the report states.

Officially, Benzema is omitted because he is not in condition to play, although AS describes the forward as being in “enviable” physical condition.