It is all on the line this Wednesday night at the venerable Allianz Arena when Real Madrid travel to Germany to take on European Clasico rivals Bayern Munich, having lost the first leg 2-1 at home behind brilliance from Michael Olise and Manuel Neuer.
As Real Madrid fans try to guess at the lineup manager Alvaro Arbeloa will pick this week in the second leg, there is a lot of doubt about the squad again. After a winning streak in Kylian Mbappe's absence, including unbridled dominance and fluidity against another Champions League rival in Manchester City, Real have stagnated back to being terrible. Forget Bayern Munich. They could not even beat Girona and Mallorca.
One tweak that should worry Real Madrid fans is the potential for Dani Carvajal to enter the starting lineup. Though mere rumors and innuendo at this point, fans and Spanish outlets are increasingly discussing the idea of Carvajal earning more starts after previously being frozen out of the lineup for a number of very valid reasons.
Dani Carvajal cannot start over Trent Alexander-Arnold
Carvajal has bizarrely been praised by some corners for his performance against Girona, when, in reality, he was quite poor. The aging right back was once a legend and a key leader for Real Madrid, but he has really failed to step up this season. Girona did not stretch him defensively, yet he still offered no support to the attack. If he looks subpar against a bottom level team and fails to actually seize the game on the flank on either end of the pitch, then how can anyone propose him starting against Bayern?
The chances of it should be highly unlikely, and hopefully Carvajal's inclusion against Girona was just rest. But seeing Madridistas and some outlets like OK Diario propose Carvajal having increased chances of facing Bayern Munich is truly terrifying. If the young Alvaro Carreras got put on skates by Michael Olise in the first leg, then imagine what an even more explosive player like Luis Diaz can do to Dani Carvajal on that left side of the Bayern attack.
Trent Alexander-Arnold did a great job against Diaz, despite the Colombian scoring the opener, and he has been showing better form in recent weeks. Dani Carvajal was put on the back burner by Alvaro Arbeloa for a reason, and if he were to suddenly go back to him in the second leg, that would spell disaster and seal the end of the Champions League run for Real Madrid.