Explained: Why Karim Benzema wears a bandage on his hand

Eagle-eyed football fans may have noticed that Karim Benzema tends to wear a bandage on his hand during games these days.

Former Real Madrid stars Jose Antonio Camacho and Chendo famously wore bandages too, but following that tradition is not the reason why the striker wraps his hand whenever he takes to the pitch.

GOAL explains why the free-scoring France international sports hand protection on the pitch.

Why does Karim Benzema wear a bandage on his hand?

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It all started when the Frenchman was on the receiving end of a collision with Real Betis defender Marc Bartra during a Liga game on January 13, 2019.

Benzema fractured the little finger of his right hand and was advised to undergo surgery to fix it, but with it came a recovery period of around two months.

Missing just one game - a clash against Leganes in the Copa del Rey - Benzema featured against Sevilla sporting a bandage for the first time.

He went on to score 6 times in the next 4 games, as the equipment on his hand seemingly doubled up as a good luck charm and even forming part of his celebration.

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Benzema gave into the operation in the summer, post the 2018-19 season. However, he would rush his rehabilitation at the cost of preventing his finger from completely healing.

There on, he continued to play with the injury by heavily strapping his hand with a bandage and has never looked back.

Until when will Karim Benzema wear the bandage?

Scoring an average of 30-plus goals since the injury, Benzema revealed in a press conference ahead of a group game in the Champions League in October 2021 that he still needs to wear the bandage.

"I did have an operation, but when you have surgery you have to be out for two months," he said.

"I've hurt [the finger] again, but I don’t have time to stop and have another operation, so I wear the bandage when I'm playing."

It is not clear if Benzema will wear the bandage indefinitely as a good luck charm or if he will dispense with it completely once he is fully healed.