Real Madrid have been hit with an injury blow ahead of their match against Malaga, with Karim Benzema set to miss the bout.
As revealed on the club’s official Twitter handle, Benzema has not been included in the list of 19 players travelling to Malaga for Sunday’s La Liga bout at the Rosaleda.
Instead, coach Zinedine Zidane is taking just four forwards, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lucas Vazquez, Jese and Borja Mayoral.
As noted by Goal, the striker has ‘minor hip problems’, which is presumably the reason for his absence for Sunday’s matchday squad.
¡Estos son los 19 convocados para el partido de mañana frente al Málaga en La Rosaleda! ?????#RMLiga #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/soy3qMGV8X
— Real Madrid C. F. (@realmadrid) February 20, 2016
Benzema represents a considerable loss for Los Merengues, having scored 19 goals in 19 league appearances so far this season.
Real currently find themselves third place in the Spanish top flight, 10 points behind leaders Barcelona and one point behind fierce city rivals Atletico Madrid.
Indeed, if Los Blancos are to retain hopes of winning the Spanish title, they can ill afford to drop any more points.
18-year-old Mayoral has featured 22 times for Real Madrid’s Castilla side in the Spanish second tier this season, scoring 11 goals.
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