Mastantuono scored his first Champions League goal against Monaco!
Madrid, January 21 (EFE) – By Óscar Maya Belchí. This is an Americano translation!
Argentinian Franco Mastantuono scored his first Champions League goal against Monaco. A “liberating” goal for a player whose rhythm and confidence on the field had been disrupted by a groin injury, but not his self-belief: “I don’t think I’m Messi, nor the worst signing Real Madrid has ever made,” he said after the match.
Mastantuono was assertive when speaking to the media. Sincere and natural, just as he was at his presentation with Real Madrid after the Club World Cup. This despite the pressure on his shoulders after arriving at the white club at just 18 years old and with a €63.2 million transfer fee.
From the very first moment, he had Xabi Alonso’s confidence. Mastantuono was presented with Real Madrid on August 14, the day he turned 18. And with only four training sessions at the Valdebebas training ground, he already had playing time with Real Madrid. He came onto the Santiago Bernabéu pitch as the first substitute, alongside Dani Carvajal, against Osasuna.
This confidence was demonstrated again ten days after his presentation, when he was already a starter for Real Madrid.
He continued to play a prominent role under Xabi Alonso, although he was the player sacrificed from the starting eleven on big match days. He was a substitute against Atlético, Juventus, Barcelona… and then the groin injury struck.
He was out of action for a month and a half due to an ailment he had been carrying, which limited his performance and eventually forced him to stop playing to avoid further risk and even surgery.
Upon his return, he found Rodrygo Goes, who, on the right wing where Mastantuono usually plays, had regained his form and established himself as a starter, which complicated his return to Xabi Alonso’s plans, resulting in him only starting in the Copa del Rey.
Xabi Alonso’s time as Real Madrid coach ended on January 12, after a 3-2 defeat in the Spanish Super Cup final against Barcelona. With Álvaro Arbeloa’s arrival and Rodrygo’s absence, Mastantuono has regained prominence.
Two goals in three matches. The first came in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey against Albacete, in a match in which Real Madrid were nevertheless eliminated by a Second Division opponent.
After this, Mastantuono came off the bench in the second half against Levante – the team against whom he scored his first goal for Real Madrid in the first leg of LaLiga EA Sports – and, along with Arda Güler and Dani Ceballos, transformed a struggling Real Madrid side that was being booed by its own fans.
This good performance earned him a starting spot in the Champions League against Monaco. And Mastantuono seized the opportunity. With a new look. From black hair to blonde. A change also aimed at revitalizing his game.
“I was slower, heavier,” he joked after the match in the mixed zone when asked about his change of look.
But the reality is that Mastantuono was active from the start of the match. Kylian Mbappé’s first goal originated from his feet and dribbling. He was incisive, looking for the diagonal run inside, on his weaker foot, as Arbeloa demands of his wingers, completing seven touches in the opponent’s penalty area, second only to Vinícius Junior’s nine touches in the match.
The Argentine player found connections with ‘Vini’. And one of these connections led to the goal, after three previous attempts.
Vinícius held the ball inside the penalty area, drew defenders, and passed to Mastantuono, who, in the 51st minute, made it 3-0 and scored his first Champions League goal. His third goal as a Real Madrid player comes at a crucial moment for regaining confidence.
“The goal helped me a lot with my confidence. I had gone several matches without playing. Players don’t like being off the field and injured. I had a different role. And this goal helps me a lot to loosen up and clear my head so I can show what I can do,” he explained after the match.
A step forward for a player who arrived from Argentina directly to Madrid at the age of 18 and who spoke about how he experienced this radical change in his life. “I arrived from Argentina as a young boy. I felt prepared to be here, but it was a new life for me, and it takes time to adapt, to get used to being in a new city and far from my family. But I never had a bad moment; I’ve always been a cheerful person, and that’s what will help me show the best version of myself,” he commented.
A liberating goal for Mastantuono, who is regaining his form at Real Madrid, a club that is looking for someone to fill the right-wing position, the Argentine’s preferred position.
