An altogether surprising absence from the squad list named by La Liga giants Real Madrid for the league phase of the upcoming Champions League campaign has been noted.
This comes amid confirmation that Sergio Mestre has not been afforded a call-up.
Goalkeeper Mestre, for his part, has been a regular in Real Madrid’s matchday squads over the early months of the new campaign.
In fact, the 20-year-old, held in high regard in Spain’s capital, has been afforded a place on the bench for all three of Los Blancos’ La Liga fixtures to date.
The expectation, in turn, was that Mestre would have little problem securing for himself a spot in Xabi Alonso’s Champions League squad list.
As alluded to above, however, upon as much being submitted to UEFA this week, the shot-stopper’s name was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, as per Marca, Alonso and his staff have opted for the quartet of Thibaut Courtois, Andriy Lunin, Fran González and Javi Navarro as options between the posts.
Conor Laird – GSFN
