Sunday, January 23rd, 2022 was not the type of day that the Real Madrid superstar striker, Karim Benzema, had hoped for as he endured a missed penalty kick, an injury, and a home invasion / burglary. After just a wretched day on the pitch where Benzema failed to score on a penalty kick as well as getting injured, he came home to his residence in Madrid, Spain to find his home was burglarized. The details of what items were taken during the burglary was not disclosed to the general public.
The Spanish police department is presently investigating the burglary that occurred while Benzema was playing a Spanish LaLiga League match at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. No one was at home when the residence was ransacked. Karim has been through a similar incident that happen to him during a football game back in 2019, and this seems to be a common occurrence for football players as crooks know that no one is home generally when they are playing in a home match.
At the moment Benzema has demonstrated that he is one of Real Madrid’s top performers during this current 2021 – 2022 Spanish football season. Real Madrid is sitting in first place in the Spanish LaLiga League right now, and Karim is leading his club with 24 – goals as of now. Karim is the Spanish LaLiga League’s top goal scorer as well with 17 – goals. The partnership between the teammates of Vinícius Júnior and Karim Benzema has been on fire recently as the duo has proved to be quite unstoppable for opposing defenses.
Last Sunday, January 23rd, 2022 the top seeded Real Madrid was kept to a 2 to 2 draw versus Elche during this match as Real Madrid failed to increase their Spanish LaLiga League lead over the 2nd – place Sevilla. Real Madrid presently has a 4 – point advantage over Sevilla through 22 – matches played so far during this 2021 – 2022 European football season.
Benzema’s struggles last Sunday started when he missed badly with just the goal – keeper of Elche to beat inside the area on a scoring opportunity. This is a scoring chance that Karim usually converts on with regularity. Then only moments later in that contest Benzema also failed to score on a penalty kick as he sent his shot from the spot way over the crossbar of the opposing team’s goal which was the first penalty kick miss for Karim with Real Madrid.
The injury occurred at the beginning of the 2nd – half, when Benzema appeared to pull a muscle. He called for a substitute following some severe discomfort as Karim was grabbing the back of his left leg as he gingerly walked into the locker room in order to be evaluated more thoroughly. It seems to be a pulled hamstring muscle in his leg, but the Real Madrid football club’s doctors will perform more testing on this injury on Monday, January 24th, 2022. Benzema will have some extra time to recover during the upcoming international break. Real Madrid’s next game is not scheduled until February of 2022.
The 34 – year – old French striker had been rested during a Copa del Rey game versus Elche the previous week, when Real Madrid won that match during extra time in order to advance to the quarter – finals.
Back in 2021, Benzema was handed down a 1 – year suspended jail sentence as well as a fine of 75,000 euros ($84,000) following a Spanish court finding him guilty of being involved in a 2015 effort to blackmail his France international teammate, Mathieu Valbuena, in a juicy sex – tape incident.
Sources:
Azzoni, Tales. “Missed penalty, injury and burglary on same day for Benzema”. The Associated Press. January 24, 2022.
“Spanish LaLiga Table 2021 – 22”. ESPN. January 24, 2022.