Real Madrid star returns to unwanted role for Espanyol clash

A leading member of the first-team ranks at Real Madrid has been forced back into an altogether undesired position, for the club’s latest outing.

Real, of course, are primed to return to action in short order.

Fresh off kicking their European campaign into gear courtesy of a 3-1 downing of Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart during the week, Los Blancos have turned their attentions back towards matters on the domestic front, eyeing a 4th victory on the spin at the expense of Espanyol.

With yet another domestic outing against Deportivo Alavés to come on Tuesday, Carlo Ancelotti has unsurprisingly opted to rotate his XI, with several key performers dropping out.

Three such players come in the form of Ferland Mendy, Antonio Rüdiger, and Vinícius Jr.

Afforded a chance to impress from the off on Saturday, in turn, are all of Fran García, Luka Modrić, and Arda Güler.

This also means, though, that one member of Ancelotti’s ranks has been forced into an unwanted role, at the heart of defence.

Taking the place of Antonio Rüdiger as Éder Militão’s partner to face Espanyol is midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni, whose insistence that he would rather take to the pitch in midfield than defence has, for tonight at least, fallen on deaf ears.

Conor Laird – GSFN