Benzema back on the bench - Mourinho is unhappy with his performance

Posted Saturday, January 05, 2013 by Marca.com

Higuain's return will condemn Benzema to the bench – for the first game of the year, at least. Thursday's training session once again featured a practice game, and Benzema did not play alongside the regular starters.

The Frenchman, who missed training with the squad on Wednesday due to a niggle in his ankle, returned to work as normal on Thursday, but Mou put him in with the group of substitutes to play the game. Shortly beforehand, Higuaín and Cristiano practiced their control and shooting, assisted by Özil and Di María, whilst the Frenchman's only duty was to start off the move with a short pass.

Despite the fact that Higuaín has been out of the running for two months, Mourinho has decided to place his money on the Argentinean for the first games of 2013, in a bid to recover the team's bite and give the Frenchman a wake-up call, who Mou believes is distracted. Mourinho will treat Benzema with a firm hand once again to try to get him to react.

Mourinho has noticed a dip in Benzema's form, despite the fact that he manufactured his team's two goals against Málaga and played a key role with a goal and an assist in the team's win over Valladolid. However, this is not enough for the Portuguese boss, who sees a lack of energy when pressuring the defence. Furthermore, Mou does not believe that the Frenchman gave his all in the first leg against Celta, when he came off injured. The manager believes that he could have held out longer.