Real Madrid suffer Higuain injury blow

 　　MADRID, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid will be without French international striker Karim Benzema for around three weeks as a result of the groin injury he picked up in his side's 1-1 draw away to CSKA Moscow in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

　　Benzema lasted just 12 minutes of the game before being replaced by Gonzalo Higuain. He suffered the injury while taking a shot at the CSKA goal and immediately went down asking for assistance¹.

　　Tests in Madrid this Wednesday confirmed he has a slight tear in his groin that will need around three weeks to heal².

　　That means he will miss Madrid's next two league games, which are away to Rayo Vallecano and at home to Espanyol, as well as the return leg against CSKA.

　　Benzema will also be unable to play for France in their friendly game against Germany on February 29.

　　His loss is a big blow to Madrid as the striker has been in what is probably the best form he has shown since joining the club from Olympic Lyon two and a half years ago, but the good news for the club is that his replacement³, Higuain is the third highest scorer in the BBVA Primera Liga with 14 goals this campaign.

1 assistance   

n.援助，帮助

参考例句：

• She called and called but no one came to her assistance.她叫了又叫，但没有人来帮。
• He will get the great possible assistance.他将获得尽可能大的帮助。

2 heal   

v.使愈合，治愈，使康复；平息(争吵等)；消除，解决(分支等)

参考例句：

• Time helped heal the old wounds.时间有助于治愈旧创伤。
• This wound will soon heal if yon keep it clean.如果你保持伤口清洁，它很快就会痊愈。

3 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。