It was the feeling at the start of the season in Madrid. Having just arrived from Argentina, Franco Mastantuono was immediately thrown into the deep end by Xabi Alonso. The player trained at River Plate played a lot during the first months of competition, starting in the majority of his team’s matches, including important matches, such as this Champions League duel against Olympique de Marseille (2-1). Until the very beginning of November…
Like many other players at the moment, the Argentinian suffered from pubalgia which kept him away from the group for a month, even though he was expected in the starting eleven of Real Madrid at Anfield on November 4 (1-0 victory for the Reds). Returning to the coach’s list on December 3, for this match against Athletic, he had to wait for the trip to Alavés, two weeks later, to play again… for just a minute. Over the last month, he only started against Talavera in the Copa del Rey, not coming into play in the last match of the year against Sevilla, playing just a quarter of an hour against Betis the following day, and accumulating only 11 minutes in the two Spanish Super Cup matches.
Victim of executives’ takeover?
An astonishing disappearance therefore, and in Madrid, some are trying to explain this sudden downgrading. For many, Mastantuono, who was a strong choice for Alonso at the start of the season, was the victim of the reconciliation between the locker room executives and the Madrid coach. In order to satisfy certain major players in the team, the Basque tactician had to make sacrifices and concessions, thus reconsidering certain methods and certain sporting choices… including the presence of Mastantuono in the starting eleven, who, as we recall, occupied the place of Rodrygo, a particularly powerful player in the locker room and in the list of rebels.
Then, it must still be emphasized that the rare times he has been on the pitch since his return from pubalgia, he has not been really transcendent. Difficult to overwhelm him, since it is always difficult to show off by playing a handful of minutes at the end of matches. For the moment, the Spanish press has not mentioned any problem of behavior or attitude which could have explained this downgrading. The club and Xabi Alonso seem to be counting on him for this second part of the season, and the Merengues have even refused loan offers, including one from Naples. Mastantuono should therefore still have new opportunities in the coming weeks…
