La Liga
Real Madrid without Benzema and 8 other players against Atalanta in the Champions League
Real Madrid took a hit on Monday with the news that Karim Benzema will not be ready to play against Atalanta in the first match of the 1/8 finals in the Champions League.
Coach Zinedine Zidane will travel to Bergamo without nine first-team players, except for some last-minute surprises.
The absence of the French striker means that Madrid will not be able to count on the scorer of 17 goals, or 34% of the team’s goals so far this season.
But Madrid will also miss Sergio Ramos, Eden Hazard, Fede Valverde and Rodrygo Goes, who have scored at least one goal so far.
In other words, Zidane will travel to Italy with a team from which he has scored only 23 goals this season, whose top scorer is midfielder Casemiro with six goals.
“These are the players we have and we will prepare well for this match.” said Zidane before the game.