Madrid (AFP)

The revenge of the 30-year-old scorers: back after a few weeks of absence, forwards Karim Benzema and Luis Suarez are keen to prove that they are still essential to Real and Atlético during the Madrid derby on Saturday (9 p.m.) for the 13th day of Liga.

Almost 33 years old (December 19), Benzema treated a left leg injury to recover his role as a decisive striker, score a header brace on Wednesday in the Champions League against Borussia Mönchengladbach (2-0) and save Zidane and Real of elimination.

Suarez, who will be 34 in January, has also returned from his quarantine for Covid-19, but his return has gone less well: while Atlético continued to score and shine in his absence, the Uruguayan played again, but was replaced in the 64th minute in the C1 victory synonymous with qualifying in Salzburg (2-0), which provoked his anger.

Saturday, the two N.9 will play a match in the match, which will see the reigning champion try to defend his crown and his Madrid domination against his neighbor, leader of the classification and "certainly" favorite for the title according to Zinédine Zidane.

- Magisterial Benzema -

At the "White House", Benzema brought back the smile: with a masterful double against "Gladbach" on Wednesday in the Champions League, the Frenchman gave Real back to his killer character, lost during his absence.

"What Karim does, it always impresses me, but I'm not surprised at what he does. I don't even know what he is anymore, if he's a striker, an N.10, a 9 and half ... He does so much on the pitch that it's wonderful to see him like that, "Zidane praised at a press conference.

Benzema was absent for a short month between November 9 and December 1 for an adductor injury.

During the three games missed by "KB9", Real compiled one win, one draw, and one loss.

Jovic also absent (Covid-19 then tendonitis in the adductors of the right leg), Mariano Diaz tried to limit the damage in place of the Frenchman, without succeeding in making him forget.

Even if he remained silent against Sevilla in La Liga (Real success 1-0) and against Shakhtar Donetsk in C1 (2-0), Benzema woke up at the best moment, when his team and his coach had the most need him ... and intends to show that he is still the boss of the Merengue attack on Saturday.

- Suarez revenge -

On the Atlético side, the return to competition has not been so idyllic for Suarez.

Absent from November 21 to December 5 for a positive test for the new coronavirus with his Uruguayan selection, the "gunslinger" has failed to be decisive in his first two matches since his return.

Facing the reigning Spanish champion, Suarez has the opportunity to take his revenge and extend his streak of 7 goals in 7 consecutive matches without losing to Real Madrid (between Barça and Atlético) since the Supercopa d ' Spain 2017.

The Uruguayan has a special history with the club Merengue: on October 25, 2014, his first La Liga match was a 3-1 loss at the Santiago-Bernabeu in a clasico with Barça, but he has since made up for it. , with 11 goals in 16 clasicos when he played for Barcelona.

While Joao Felix, Marcos Llorente and Angel Correa have shaken the opposing net in his absence to allow the Colchoneros to be the only club still unbeaten in La Liga.

Suarez remains the only N.9 in the profession, given that Diego Costa is still injured (acute venous thrombosis in his right leg).

"Luis is needed a lot," said coach Diego Simeone.

While he has missed five matches due to injury or due to the coronavirus since the start of the season, Suarez (439 minutes played this season) still remains Atlético's top scorer in La Liga, tied with the prodigy's five goals Portuguese Joao Felix (647 minutes played).

But in Madrid, there is only room for one king of scorers: between Suarez and Benzema, the clash is likely to spark.

© 2020 AFP