It has been a rocky few weeks for Real Madrid.
After opening November with a 4-0 thrashing of Valencia, their sixth straight victory as well as their 13th in 14, Real Madrid would fall to a 1-0 defeat at Liverpool before drawing their next two matches at Rayo Vallecano and Elche. They managed to come away with a 4-3 win at Olympiacos thanks to a poker from Kylian Mbappé, only to draw the following match at relegation-threatened Girona. Los Blancos seemed to have turned a corner after making quick
work of fellow Champions League outfit Athletic Club after winning 3-0 at the San Mamés thanks to a brace from Mbappé and a goal from his compatriot Eduardo Camavinga. But as they would come to find out on Sunday night, it proved to be a false dawn.
Real dominated proceedings but failed to pierce the goal, with Celta de Vigo taking advantage after halftime as Williot Swedberg deftly backheeled Brayan Zaragoza’s cross into the back of the net. Things went from bad to worse as Fran García received a second yellow after clattering into his opponent, forcing Álvaro Carreras to go from the left-sided center back to playing a hybrid role between center back and his natural left back position. However, Carreras got himself sent off in extra time after some choice words to the referee, whilst Swedberg would complete his brace to secure Celta’s first win at the Santiago Bernabéu in 19 years.
Real Madrid have gone through plenty of turbulence at the left back position in recent months. They decided to phase out Ferland Mendy after six years as the club’s undisputed left-sided defender, with the Frenchman’s long-term injury forcing new manager Xabi Alonso to use García as their go-to option during their run to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup semifinal. Shortly after their elimination to PSG, Real announced the signing of Carreras on a six-year contract, paying Benfica €50 million for the Spaniard. Having played in Real Madrid’s academy from 2017 to 2020, Carreras’s return to Chamartín has been far more consequential, with the Ferrol native establishing himself as their starting left back under Alonso and scoring one goal and handing out one assist in 19 appearances.
“I think it’s quite likely that Carreras ends up being the starting left-back for Spain,” stated Spanish football journalist Sid Lowe to RG. “I think this coming World Cup might be too soon for him, because Luís de la Fuente is very conscious of loyalty towards the players who’ve played with him and the idea of a group structure. I think he has no reason to drop Marc Cucurella, his first choice at the moment, and even if he’s not there, maybe Alejandro Balde or Alex Grimaldo will play there. Carreras has a lot of ground to make up, and to be honest, I think the World Cup is too soon for him, unless he has a phenomenal season, and there are some injuries ahead of him. Obviously, my impression of him has been damaged a little bit by the Atlético Madrid and Liverpool games, but not very much.
“Apart from those two games, my impression of him has been a player who just does everything right. He doesn’t necessarily stand out in the sense of ‘Wow, this guy is phenomenal, he’s a great attacker, he produces brilliant crosses, he’s incredibly fast, he’s massively strong.’ None of those things happen, but every decision is the right one, he’s got a very good positional sense, positioning, there’s a coolness about him and a kind of low-key sense of control about him. This is a guy that I think will be very, very important for Real Madrid in years to come. My concern, I suppose, would be whether Real Madrid find themselves being drawn into that thing that quite often happens with big clubs like Real and Barça, where people get a little bored of this guy who’s just very good at his job and want a superstar. Any club that had Roberto Carlos, your left back’s never going to be good enough, because there’s always going to be this idea that he’s got to be much more than a left back. One of the amazing things about the success of Marcelo is that he managed to be probably as good as Roberto Carlos, which is a mad thing to say, because he was a wonderful footballer, not because he was a great defender.”
It has been a sensational 2025 for Carreras, who won his first-ever senior trophy with the Taça da Liga title and was named to the Liga Portugal Team of the Season while competing in his first-ever intercontinental club competition with the FIFA Club World Cup. However, one thing that he hasn’t done is earn a maiden call-up for the Spanish senior team. Although he has represented Spain at the U19 and U21 levels, he has been unable to break into the reigning European champions’ stacked defensive core.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, as Spain manager Luís de la Fuente knows all too well. Apart from their 2-2 draw in their final World Cup qualifier vs. Türkiye, Spain have won each of their last five matches by a combined 19-0. They learned of their future group stage opponents in Friday’s World Cup draw in Washington D.C., facing Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in Atlanta before facing two-time champions Uruguay in Guadalajara.
Whilst it would take a lot of things for Carreras to enter the Spain squad ahead of the World Cup, getting himself sent off certainly won’t help. It’s one thing to see red for a mistimed challenge, or an errant handball, or a clumsy shoulder tug. Those plays, at the very least, have the excuse that they were trying to help their team win, and they simply miscalculated their efforts. There is no excuse for talking yourself into a sending-off, especially when the only other available left back has already been dismissed.
With Carreras and García suspended, and with Mendy, David Alaba, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dean Huijsen and Dani Carvajal missing the Celta match due to injury, it remains to be seen how Alonso will reconfigure his defense ahead of Sunday’s trip to Deportivo Alavés, who have won their last two matches. But first things first, they’ll be counting on Carreras to atone for his mistake as they look to come away with a win against Manchester City on Wednesday.
