Benzema to miss France qualifiers

France striker Karim Benzema has been ruled out of both upcoming UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers against Albania and Bosnia because of a groin injury, coach Laurent Blanc confirmed today. The Real Madrid player picked up the injury during last week's UEFA Champions League tie for the Spanish club. "He can't recuperate," said Blanc. "We wanted to give him the means of recuperating for the second match (against Bosnia) but the medical staff are categoric. He's going to leave, his club has made everything available for him to return to Madrid. We thought that the injury was less serious. The MRI confirmed (Monday) that it was beyond repair." Benzema's injury is the second blow in two days for Blanc after Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna was ruled out for three months with a broken leg. Group D leaders France play Albania and Bosnia at Stade de France on 7 and 11 October.