MADRID: Carlo Ancelotti defended Karim Benzema from accusations he is not playing with Real Madrid to be ready for the World Cup, saying Wednesday the France striker himself is upset about his lack of minutes going into Qatar.
The 34-year-old Benzema, who has been dealing with muscle fatigue, will miss his sixth straight start when Madrid host Cádiz in the Spanish league on Thursday. It will be the club’s last match before the World Cup break.
Ancelotti said it was “silly” for people to say Benzema was trying to preserve himself for the France national team.
“It’s a small ailment, and Karim has tried to recover from it,” the Madrid coach said. “He is the first one who is frustrated with the situation, as he is entering the World Cup without the minutes he would have needed to be in better condition.”
Since winning the Ballon d’Or for best player of the year three weeks ago, Benzema missed matches against Sevilla, Leipzig, Girona and Rayo Vallecano. He played less than 30 minutes after coming off the bench in a 5-1 rout of Celtic in the group stage of the Champions League this month. His most recent start was in a 3-0 win at Elche in the Spanish league on Oct. 19, when he scored his last goal.
“The only thing that bothers me is that Karim has not been able to help the team with his quality,” Ancelotti said.
Benzema is set to be back at the World Cup after missing out on the 2018 tournament in Russia. France coach Didier Deschamps will announce the squad that will try to the defend the World Cup title in Qatar on Wednesday.
Ancelotti also defended Vinícius Júnior from accusations he was provoking other players too much in recent matches.
“Vini is the player who receives the most fouls, the most hits, the most shoves,” Ancelotti said about the forward that will be with Brazil at the World Cup.
Madrid need to beat relegation-threatened Cádiz to enter the World Cup break within three points of Spanish league leader Barcelona, which came from behind to win 2-1 at Osasuna on Tuesday.
Madrid are the defending champion both in the Spanish league and the Champions League.
Ancelotti defends Benzema for not playing ahead of World Cup
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Ancelotti defends Benzema for not playing ahead of World Cup
- Benzema will miss his sixth straight start when Madrid host Cádiz in the Spanish league on Thursday
- Ancelotti said it was “silly” for people to say Benzema was trying to preserve himself for the France national team
Alcaraz powers into Indian Wells quarter-finals
- Alcaraz will next face 2021 champion Cameron Norrie, who earlier beat Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 6-4 6-2
World number one Carlos Alcaraz continued his dominant run at Indian Wells, beating Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-1 7-6(2) on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals in the California desert.
The Spaniard relied on a near-flawless service game to seize control of the match, racing through the opening set in just 37 minutes after breaking Ruud’s serve three times.
Thirteenth-seeded Ruud raised his level in the second set and forced a tiebreak, hoping to push the match to a decider, but Alcaraz kept his foot on the gas to seal his 15th consecutive victory of the season to reach the quarter-finals for a fifth straight year.
“The conditions were difficult to be honest. Today the ball was tough to control but we both played great,” two-time champion Alcaraz said in his on-court interview.
“My first set was incredible I’m really happy of playing that kind of level, really happy to get through and hopefully I’ll play this level on the next round.”
Alcaraz will next face 2021 champion Cameron Norrie, who earlier beat Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 6-4 6-2, with the Spaniard looking to avenge a defeat to the Briton at last year’s Paris Masters.
SWIATEK, PEGULA THROUGH
World number two Iga Swiatek delivered a dominant 6-2 6-0 victory over Czech 13th seed Karolina Muchova, reeling off 10 consecutive games to secure her fifth win over the Czech, whom she also beat at the same stage of the tournament last year.
“I felt I was playing better and better, just great,” Swiatek said.
“I love playing here ... It’s a great place to play tennis, hopefully I can keep doing that until the end.”
Swiatek, chasing a third Indian Wells title, will face ninth seed Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals after the Ukrainian advanced when Katerina Siniakova retired injured.
American fifth seed Jessica Pegula overcame Belinda Bencic 6-3 7-6(5) to secure her first victory in five meetings between the pair.
Pegula, coming off a dramatic comeback win over Jelena Ostapenko, took control as she clinched the opening set — her first ever against the Swiss — before edging a tightly contested tiebreak to close out the match.
Russian 11th seed Daniil Medvedev beat Alex Michelsen 6-2 6-4 in a commanding performance, needing just one hour and 27 minutes to dismantle the American and maintain his strong form after winning last month’s Dubai Open.
