"With an average age of 24 years and 152 days, Real Madrid put out their youngest starting line-up since a December 2018 tie against CSKA Moscow, when the side was 52 days younger. While Arbeloa didn’t turn to any Castilla players in the line-up, he did select a raft of the squads younger players, like Franco Mastantuono (who became the third youngest Real Madrid goalscorer in the Champions League after Endrick and Raúl), Raúl Asencio, Arda Güler and Dean Huijsen, while many were chosen out of obligation with little depth available due to injuries. The only player over the age of 27 was 33-year-old goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Arbeloa has shown that he is not afraid to gamble in this sense, fielding less experienced players and giving them a shot. But it also points to another cause, which is the lack of depth available at the moment. Of those on the bench, Dani Carvajal and David Alaba were the only two experienced figures, both injury-hit of late, and Dani Ceballos, Fran García and Andriy Lunin are the only other players with more than a single season at first team level, all three as regular back-up options."
- @samleveridge : https://t.co/we9xzG6h58