Chelsea captain John Terry's knee injury will keep him out of the Club World Cup in Japan.
The Champions League winners will miss 11 days of domestic action to represent Europe in the competition next week.
Terry was expected to be out for three weeks after the injury in mid November.
Benitez's side play Sunderland tonight before travelling to Japan for the competition featuring champions from all six Fifa confederations.
Chelsea enter in the semi-finals where they will face the Mexican side Monterrey or Korean team Ulsan Hyundai next Thursday.
