In the just-concluded Champions League match of this round, Real Madrid lost 1-2 to Manchester City at home after being reversed.
Since November 1st, Matías Mastantuono has not gotten any playing time in any game. There are two main reasons for this. First, he has been playing through an injury—his pubic inflammation dates back to his time with River Plate during the FIFA Club World Cup. At that time, the severity of the injury forced him to stop playing for treatment, resulting in him missing four games.
Second, although Mastantuono has now fully recovered from his injury and been included in the team's matchday squad three consecutive times, head coach Xabi Alonso has never arranged for him to play, which is more due to tactical considerations of the team.
The report also mentions that to better accommodate Jude Bellingham and enhance the balance of the team's midfield, Alonso adjusted the team's formation from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2. This formation change reduced the number of attacking positions by one, directly leading to reduced playing time for Mastantuono, as well as players like Díaz, Rodrygo, and Endrick to varying degrees.
In addition, a notable fact is that Mastantuono seems to have a "lucky charm" attribute: in the 9 games he started, Real Madrid won all of them; since he missed games due to injury, the team's performance has declined significantly, achieving only 2 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses, including defeats to Liverpool and Celta.
