What's wrong with Benzema? He was harshly criticized at Al-Ittihad and now he left town

Karim Benzema arrived at Al-Ittihad as a star. He was a key player for Real Madrid and the reigning Ballon d'Or winner when he shocked everyone and left for Saudi Arabia this summer in exchange for a multi-million dollar salary. The club's aim was for him to lead the team to another Pro League title, like the one they won in the 2022/23 season.

However, things have not turned out as expected. From the start of the tournament there were rumors of problems within the squad and with coach Nuno Espiritu Santo, who eventually left and was replaced by Marcelo Gallardo. But neither the millions invested in signing stars such as N'Golo Kanté and Jota, nor the change of coach, yielded the expected results: Al-Ittihad are in seventh place in the tournament standings, 25 points behind leaders Al-Hilal. And that's not all, as they also failed in the Club World Cup, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Al-Ahly of Egypt.

The fans' patience came to an end last week, when they lost 5-2 against Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr. There, Karim was directly responsible for the defeat, as he committed a foul that gave CR7 the opportunity to score a penalty goal. As a result, the press and fans were very critical of the French striker, who reacted by shutting down his official Instagram account.

But that's not all he did. According to Al-Riyadiya, Benzema was not at training on Thursday and Friday alongside his teammates. And he even claims that he has left the city of Jeddah, although the reasons for his trip are unknown. And coach Marcelo Gallardo, when asked about this, preferred not to give details of what happened.

Perhaps this is good news

With this scenario, Al-Ittihad were due to play this Saturday the last match of the year in the Pro League against Al Ta'ee. However, they asked to postpone it due to landing problems and so it will finally be played on February 7. This is undoubtedly good news for coach Gallardo, who will now have time to solve the team's problems.