The new short circuit between Marcelo Gallardo and Karim Benzema: why the Frenchman abandoned the Al Ittihad study

Karim Benzema has returned to the Al-Ittihad team led by Marcelo Gallardo. The Saudi club revealed this through images published on their social networks, which seem to be a sign that the conflict between the coach and the French star had come to an end after the attacker’s absence from the first pre-season training sessions.

However, upon his return to training, Gallardo ordered Benzema away from the rest of his teammates as punishment for the days he had been absent and the former Real Madrid footballer, 36, refused and removed from the property where they were taking them. with the El Muñeco train, the newspaper reports Brand.

“The Argentine coach, firm in his conviction of not granting privileges and in the search for justice within the locker room, ordered the former Real Madrid player to train alone after an initial part of work with the group. However, “Karim refused to do so, became angry… and soon left the session,” says the Spanish newspaper.

Relations between the two have not been the best since the beginning of the year. The fact is that the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner did not show up for training on January 12, the agreed day after the end of the holidays. He claimed that he was unable to return in time from his trip to Mauritius because he was trapped by a cyclone which prevented him from mobilising, but the former River coach, who does not deal with this type of issue, also decided to separate himself from the team…

Now, The conflict is escalating and Benzema’s future is unknown. Despite the heavy decision taken by the coach, the fans support the Argentine. The fact is that they have run out of patience even with Real Madrid’s idol. To the point that, despite him scoring 9 goals this season, they accused him of not meeting the club’s expectations and led the player to close his social media due to the amount of criticism he received.

The international press reported that Benzema intended to leave Al-Ittihad, due to alleged interests from European clubs and failure to adapt to his stay in Saudi Arabia, but ultimately accepted his continuity in the team that beat Al-Ittihad. ‘Al-Ta 3-0 this time. Tuesday ‘ee and reached 31 points in the Saudi Arabian championship.

With goals from Abderrazak Hamdallah in the 8th minute of the game, Faisal Al-Ghamdi (42′) and Romarinho (87′), Al Ittihad is fifth, three points behind Al Taawon, but far from Al-Ahli Saudi, which has 40 units, from Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr (46) and from Al Hilal (50), who are the ones fighting for qualification for the AFC Champions League.