Real Madrid’s 2–1 win over Marseille to kick-off their 2025–26 Champions League campaign was overshadowed by situations regarding their top-choice right backs.
Trent Alexander-Arnold limped off the pitch five minutes in with an apparent hamstring injury that will now sideline him for a considerable period of time. Los Blancos were well equipped to handle the England international’s absence, with club legend Dani Carvajal ready to step-up, or so they thought.
Carvajal replaced the injured Alexander-Arnold but then, deep into the game, he was shown a straight red-card for an altercation with Marseille goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli.
Real Madrid managed to rescue the win despite playing undermanned. Nevertheless, Xabi Alonso will have to work around the absence of both Carvajal and Alexander-Arnold next time out in Europe, a situation that he believes shouldn’t have happened.
“The red card was avoidable on our part,” Alonso said post-game. “It’s a shame and we’re going to have to talk about the subject.”
Rulli himself spoke about the incident after the game and revealed that he could tell Carvajal immediately realized he’d made a mistake. Now, Real Madrid could be in deep trouble.
There’s still no confirmation of how many games Carvajal will be suspended for, but if UEFA’s Disciplinary Committee deems the action as an aggression, he could miss Los Blancos’ next three Champions League matches against Kairat Almaty, Juventus and Liverpool.
If Alexander-Arnold’s recovery timeline is accurate, the Englishman could potentially return for the trip to Liverpool, but it still might be too soon for him to play the full 90 minutes.
Carvajal’s head-loss will result in Alonso having to deploy players out of position in Madrid’s upcoming Champions League matches, with Fede Valverde, Raúl Asencio and Eduardo Camavinga emerging as the top candidates.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘We’ll Talk’—Xabi Alonso Unimpressed With Dani Carvajal Red Card.