Benzema to miss Ittihad at the start of the Asian campaign

Karim Benzema was knocked out of the Al Ittihad squad at the start of the Saudi champions in the AFC Champions League against Uzbekistan's AGMK on Monday.

The federation did not announce the reasons for the absence of the French striker who won the Ballon d'Or, while Moroccan Abdelrazek Hamdallah entered the squad.

Local media reported that Benzema was sidelined due to injury.

Goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Mayouf is participating for the first time after joining from Al-Hilal, instead of Brazilian Marcelo Grohe, who suffers from an injury.