A leading member of the midfield ranks at La Liga giants Real Madrid has on Saturday seen a long-running string of starts brought to an end.
The player in question? Arda Güler.
Real Madrid are of course primed to return to action in short order.
Fresh off a 2-1 downing of Marseille in the club’s Champions League opener in midweek, Los Blancos have turned attentions back towards matters on the domestic front.
A La Liga meeting with Espanyol lies in wait, at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Amid what has been a busy last week following the international break, Xabi Alonso has opted to make a number of changes to his XI for the evening.
The likes of Dani Carvajal, Raúl Asencio and Vinícius Jr. have all stepped back into starting roles.
Afforded a rare rest by way of a drop to the bench, on the other hand, is midfield starlet Arda Güler.
Youngster Arda has established himself as one of the first names on the Real Madrid team sheet since the arrival of Xabi Alonso.
In fact, dating back to the summer’s Club World Cup, the Turk had featured from the off in all of Los Merengues’ last 10 fixtures in all competitions.
On Saturday, though, Arda will watch on from the sideline, ready and waiting in reserve in the case of his talents being required during the 2nd-half.
Conor Laird – GSFN
