Marc Cucurella, after an average start to life at Real Madrid, has quickly become indespensible for Jose Mourinho's side.
He was decent in some of his games to start the season, but was unable to replicate his performances for Spain, or even in big matches for Chelsea. He was always just there, delivering average, sometimes decent performances, in the hopes that soon after, he would be able to show his best form for the team wearing white.
Fast forward to the Clasico, Cucurella realised Real Madrid paid 60 million euros for him, and that he was, at the very least, a top-two left-back in the world at his best. Since the Clasico performance where he shut down Lamine Yamal on that wing, Cucurella has been exceptional for Real Madrid.
He has barely had a single mistake since that game, and has looked much more like the Cucurella Real Madrid signed a few months ago - the version everyone saw play for Spain in the World Cup and the Euros.
Real Madrid have found a warrior in Marc Cucurella, and Jose Mourinho probably won't bench him now
Cucurella has been phenomenal for Real Madrid, and any game time that Alvaro Carreras was getting beforehand, looks like it will be vanishing soon.
He came on as a substitute in a recent game, but has had zero starts since the Clasico. Carreras has not done anything wrong with the way he has played, but he just hasn't been able to match Cucurella, who also has had his best streak since coming to the Spanish capital.
There will be opportunities for Carreras in the future. In Copa Del Rey games, one-off La Liga games, Champions League if the automatic knock-outs trip is guaranteed, but it would likely not be anything that Jose Mourinho mentioned in a recent press conference, when he talked about how he has two left-backs who are battling with each other to be a starter every week.
He may say that to keep Carreras motivated so that he continues to want to show his best side to Mourinho, but it does not seem like that would actually happen.
Cucurella, if he performs this way consistently, probably does not have a single left-back in the world as his competitor apart from Nuno Mendes. Even if the two of them were on the same team, Cucurella would still give the Portuguese international a good run for his money.
Carreras will likely play a few games here and there, but unless Cucurella's form completely plummets, or he gets injured, he will likely not see the pitch to start a big match for the foreseeable future.
Add us as a preferred source on Google