Real Madrid doctors have advised Ancelotti not to start Benzema — report

This is a rough report to come out on Tuesday morning. According to ESPN’s Rodrigo Faez and Gerard Moreno on a Twitch stream, Real Madrid’s doctors have advised Carlo Ancelotti not to start Karim Benzema tonight, but that that Italian manager will “start him anyway.”

Some important context: Faez is generally reliable when it comes to Real Madrid stuff, and Romero is usually commenting on Barcelona stuff, and covers the Catalans mostly — and is not as well connected to Real Madrid things. This may be an opportunistic ‘report’ that is believable enough to push out, because Ancelotti hardly rotates, and the chances of Benzema being rushed back while probably not being 100% is pretty high.

Still, it’s one of those things that could 100% backfire if true. The season is long, and as Kiyan Sobhani stated on our latest podcast, it’s not worth the long-term consequences to risk something like this given that this tie will not be decided in the first leg regardless, and with the away goal rule being scraped, there is not an inherent need to push for multiple goals with a striker that could potentially risk a dangerous injury relapse.