Real Madrid are riding another winless streak, as the team has become dysfunctional again with the inclusion of a healthy Kylian Mbappe. But the Frenchman is the team's leading scorer and the crown jewel in the eyes of Florentino Perez, so he is not leaving the lineup any time soon.
This coming week on Tuesday, Real Madrid will battle Deportivo Alaves, and since they are not yet mathematically elminated from La Liga title contention, they wlil have everything to play for against Toni Martinez, Antonio Blanco, and a hard nosed underdog side that is everything Real are not.
Here are three star players who are playing for their starting jobs vs. Alaves after dismal La Liga performances against Mallorca and Girona.
LW Vinicius Junior
Vinicius Junior is no longer untouchable. That is the big takeaway from this week's results. The Brazilian international has yet to sign a new deal with Real Madrid, and he is cutting an increasingly bitter figure at the club. Kylian Mbappe is Florentino Perez's pet project, and he won't let Mbappe fail. The same used to be the case for Vini Jr., but if he keeps slagging off his teammates and taking bad shots, his number might come up.
CM Aurelien Tchouameni
Eduardo Camavinga has pretty much played himself out of Real Madrid, and Aurelien Tchouameni had better watch out that he isn't next. Because all the things about a talented but inconsistent Frenchman who has not shown marked growth since joining Real Madrid can actually apply to Tchou, who is not a fully guaranteed starter over Thiago Pitarch himself.
Now, Alvaro Arbeloa has gotten better performances out of Tchou, who has a close affinity to the former Real Madrid right back. Yet in the important games and even the smaller ones, Tchouameni is not able to control the pitch, which is what Real bought him to do. If former academy star Antonio Blanco toasts him on Tuesday night, then more serious questions will be asked about a player who is good but not great enough to start every week for a club of this stature.
LB Alvaro Carreras
While there are quite a few Madridistas badly overrating Ferland Mendy's performance against Bayern Munich, there is no doubting the fact that he was superior defensively to Alvaro Carreras, who was totally embarrassed by Michael Olise throughout the first leg.
Although Carreras started the season decently well, he has stagnated and arguably regressed, particualrly getting exposed defensively. Against an easy matchup in Alaves, Carreras has to be top class, otherwise Fran Garcia and Mendy will nip at his heels for the next start.
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