At a glance
- Real Madrid lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich a Champions League quarterfinal first leg clash on Tuesday.
- Antonio Rudiger said both the Bavarians’ goals were “gifts”.
- Alvaro Carreras could be blamed for the second goal, and reporters asked Alvaro Arbeloa about his struggles with a superb Michael Olise.
Real Madrid star Alvaro Carreras is under-fire for his part in Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in a Champions League quarterfinal first leg on Tuesday.
Reacting to the defeat, Antiono Rudiger scoffed that Bayern’s goals were “gifts”. While Trent-Alexander got caught out of position and received criticism online for his part in Luis Diaz’s opener, Carreras was dispossessed for the Harry Kane’s strike to make it 2-0.
With Rudiger caught on camera berating Carreras at the weekend for not closing down in the 2-1 defeat to Mallorca, the international media singled the Spaniard out as well.
Carreras’ display for Real Madrid didn’t get top marks
L’Equipe gave Carreras a shocking ‘2’ mark for his outing, saying that it “lost count of how many times Michael Olise outpaced him and left him stunned”.
“The Spanish full-back lived a nightmare against the speed and skill of the Frenchman. He was also responsible for the turnover that led to Harry Kane’s goal. His only contribution: a clearance on the goal line in the 9th minute,” added the French magazine.
In England, Sky Sport’s Adam Bate tweeted how “the image that summed it all up was that of Alvaro Carreras looking around for help. None came”.
“He couldn’t wait to deal with Olise alone. Special player,” Bate then concluded.
Real Madrid boss Arbeloa defended his charge
In his post-match press conference, Madrid boss Alvaro Arbeloa shielded Carreras when reminded how the left back “suffered” with Olise.
“He had one of the best in the world in front of him. It’s not easy to face a player like that,” Arbeloa argued.
“My confidence in Alvaro is still intact, he will learn from today’s game. Those of us who have been there as full-backs know it. Because they can come out inside or outside. It’s difficult but Alvaro is a player of the future and of the present,” Arbeloa added.
Has Carreras lost his spot for the second leg?
According to AS, Ferland Mendy is now being tipped to start the decider in Munich a week from now.
Carreras’ performance left a lot to be desired. Out of the 10 duels he fought on the ground, the Galician won just three and missed more passes in his own half (19 out of 26) than in the opponent’s (18 out of 22).
With Fran Garcia also snubbed, the Spanish newspaper’s correspondent Mario de la Riva says that Mendy’s recovery from a muscular will be accelerated.
This comes despite the Frenchman earning the fewest minutes (247) in the squad this season. More importantly, though, nobody either domestically or on the continent has managed to dribble him in 15 outings.
