English Premier League
Jose Mourinho drops Alvaro Carreras as Marc Cucurella earns Real Madrid start
Jose Mourinho has confirmed that Marc Cucurella will start at left-back for Real Madrid against Malaga on Sunday, with Alvaro Carreras moving to the bench after starting the club’s opening two La Liga matches of the season against Espanyol and Real Sociedad.
Carreras’ demotion follows a difficult first half in Real Madrid’s most recent game. According to Spanish newspaper AS, the 22-year-old was booked after 10 minutes and was unable to make a decisive contribution in the build-up to Real Sociedad’s equalising goal. Mourinho replaced him with Cucurella at half-time.
“Jose Mourinho is not attached to anyone, and he proved that during Real Madrid’s match against Real Sociedad,” AS reported. “After a first half full of positives and negatives, the coach decided to replace Alvaro Carreras at half-time.”
Carreras had been among the players to attract attention during a match in which Real Madrid went from looking the stronger side to struggling before the interval. He completed only 33% of his passes into the final third and lost possession six times, in addition to receiving an early yellow card.
Those figures contributed to the criticism directed at Carreras following Real Sociedad’s equaliser. However, the main responsibility was assigned to Sucic, with Carreras accused of delaying his pressure and failing to move into the correct position to cover the shot.
AS said those factors influenced Mourinho’s decision to make the change at the interval, although the Portuguese manager publicly attributed it primarily to the booking.
“I decided to bring on Cucurella instead of Carreras because of the yellow card. It was dangerous in the one-on-one duel with Kubo,” Mourinho said.
Cucurella’s selection comes after a short but productive period since returning to the squad. Because of his involvement in the World Cup, the Spain international was one of the last Real Madrid players to join pre-season training.
Despite having been at the club for only 17 days, Cucurella had already appeared in three matches. Those outings included the final friendly against Schalke, as well as Real Madrid’s first two league fixtures, giving him 100 minutes of playing time before he was handed his first start against Malaga.
The defender made a significant impact after coming on against Real Sociedad. He won 100% of his tackles, recovered possession three times and was not dribbled past on any occasion.
Cucurella’s presence also changed the threat posed down Real Madrid’s left flank. With him on the pitch, that side became a consistent source of danger, while the scoreline shifted from 1-1 to 4-1 in Real Madrid’s favour in less than 35 minutes.
The report also carried links to two other stories: a video on Ismael Saibari making a strong Bundesliga debut with two notable contributions, and Newcastle’s interest in a Moroccan star before the transfer window closes.
Readers were also invited to discuss the issues and news in greater depth on Kooora forums.
