Ancelotti confirms Benzema’s early injury return for the Madrid derby

Although it’s been rumored

would be sidelined for weeks due to his injury, the

boss confirmed the Ballon d’Or favorite’s injury is not as bad as it seemed in the beginning as the Italian coach ruled out the striker for their matches against

and RB Leipzig this week before facing

next week.

told a press conference:

"We will not force Benzema. He will certainly not play against Leipzig, but then we will see for the derby.

"If he can't play then [against Atletico], he won't go to France [for the international break]."

Benzema

was replaced by

after he took a knock in the 30th minute of their

game against

as the Belgian scored the Los Blancos' third goal. However, the Italian coach doesn’t expect Hazard to fill Benzema’s void in the forward, hailing the

as the “best striker in the world”.

Ancelotti added:

"Hazard did well coming on against Celtic. I'm going to put him in again on Sunday. Hopefully he can repeat a great game.

"I don't expect [Hazard] to play like Benzema, but I want him to play well and to connect with the other forwards."

"We don't have Karim and because he is the best striker in the world, there is no substitute for him on the market. But he can be replaced with other players with different characteristics.

"Vinicius is getting more consistent in finishing, in scoring goals. It is difficult for him to fail in front of the goal, there he has improved a lot.

"I want to emphasise that he continues to maintain a good attitude, with a lot of humility, work - he wants to improve every day."

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