Alexander-Arnold benched as Carvajal resumes Madrid right-back spot

Trent Alexander-Arnold's predicted life at Real Madrid has begun with a setback, as he was left on the bench for a second league game of the season while Dani Carvajal, the club captain, returned to the starting lineup. The Premier League star, who joined Madrid in the summer with the expectation of displacing Carvajal, entered the match late as Madrid beat Real Oviedo, but the early signs suggest the fight for the right-back berth will be a long, selective process rather than a quick transition.

The move to Madrid was framed as a high-stakes bid to secure a long-term successor to Carvajal, a player valued for his experience, leadership and reliability. Yet the initial impression from Xabi Alonso’s Madrid reign is that no one in the squad holds a guaranteed place. Alonso stressed that decisions depend on the needs of each game, the workload on the players, and the level of the opposition. “It depends on what we need in terms of the game, the workload and the opposition. I haven’t made a decision for the next month,” he said, adding that he intends to “get the best out of all of them” and ensure players feel important whether they start, come off the bench, or are used in the...