Real Madrid winger set for red card ban as injury list grows

Franco Mastantuono will have to check and see is there any room on the row at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu reserved for unavailable Real Madrid players, as he will not feature in the upcoming LaLiga game against Elche this weekend.

The Argentine winger is serving a suspension following a red card handed to him during stoppage time in the recent league loss to Getafe.

A goal down, Real Madrid were scrambling to get back into the game, with manager Álvaro Arbeloa resorting to the youngster to provide a spark on the right side of the pitch. Sparks he got, as Mastantuono directed an angry outburst at referee Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz, where in his report he detailed that the winger said: "What a disgrace, what a fucking disgrace."

He was subsequently handed a two-game ban, and served the first in Real Madrid’s 1-2 win over Celta Vigo, where it took a late Fede Valverde goal to allow Los Blancos to take home all three points and keep the pressure on Barcelona at the top of the table.

Now, Mastantuono will join a long list of absentees for Arbeloa, as the manager is without all of Mbappé, Rodrygo, Bellingham, Ceballos, Militão, and most recently, Mendy, who suffered an injury in the Champions League first leg against Manchester City and was replaced at half-time.

As such, and as he hinted in his press conference, Real Madrid are set to make changes to their starting XI for the game, with Arbeloa revealing that “we may see” some more youngsters make an appearance for Madrid. Already he has relied heavily on the hugely impressive Thiago Pitarch to play in midfield and against Manchester City we saw Manuel Ángel make his European debut for the team after playing just a single minute against Celta Vigo in the previous round on LaLiga fixtures.

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