Carlo Ancelotti, head coach of Real Madrid, believes Karim Benzema will recover after missing two penalties in Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Osasuna.
At El Sadar, Ante Budimir cancelled out David Alaba’s 12th-minute opener before Marco Asensio restored Madrid’s lead.
Benzema was then denied twice from 12 yards by Sergio Herrera, making the France star the first player since Raul Tamudo against Real Betis in April 2006 to miss two penalties in a LaLiga game.
Lucas Vazquez sealed the victory for the league leaders in stoppage time, extending Madrid’s lead over nearest challengers Atletico Madrid to 17 points, with distant chasers Sevilla and Barcelona both playing on Thursday.
Speaking after the game, Ancelotti was quick to defend Benzema, who leads LaLiga scoring charts with 25 goals to this season.
“Penalties are missed by those who take them, it won’t affect Benzema. Karim played a super game, he’s going to score the next game,” he said.
Alaba limped off at half-time and was subsequently withdrawn at the interval, but Ancelotti did not appear concerned about the centre-back’s injury.
“We are optimistic with Alaba. We removed him as a precaution, he has been overloaded with a lot of work,” the Italian added.
Madrid will now turn their attention to the Champions League semi-final first-leg clash at Manchester City on Tuesday, and Ancelotti insists his focus will be solely on that tie and not securing the league title.
“The title? We plan to prepare well for the next match, which is the semi-final of the Champions League,” he continued.
“Then let’s see what happens. We need to win. We are focused on the semi-final match and I think we are going to arrive in good form.”
