French striker Karim Benzema has got a small muscle injury in his left adductor muscle. He is unlikely to take part in the Champions League last 16 first leg match. Benzema, Zidane and the medical staff will make the decision on Monday, club sources told 'EFE'.
The tests Benzema has had confirmed that he has damaged the adductor muscle in his left leg. Despite not suffering an important muscle tear, the French striker and Real Madrid's main man up front was unable to play in the league game against Valladolid. He is a serious doubt for the European game against Atalanta.
Zinedine Zidane made clear after the game in Valladolid that he is not thinking of risking Benzema. "If he's better, he will travel to Italy, but if not, we aren't going to take risks because there's a lot of the season still to go," he said. Once the results of the tests are revealed, a final decision will be made on Monday.
The Real Madrid coach will meet with Benzema and the club doctors at Valdebebas to weigh up the risks of him playing in such a key Champions League game and possibly worsening his muscle injury. The decision will be announced in a squad list which will be made public on Monday afternoon.
The club are confident that, if he is unable to travel to Italy, the French forward will be back for the next La Liga game. That will be versus Real Sociedad on Monday 1st March.