Mourinho Excludes Mendy as Teenager Martinez Joins Real Madrid Champions League Squad
Ferland Mendy has paid the price for injury and increased competition. Real Madrid named their 25-man squad for the Champions League league phase, and the French left-back is the standout omission.
He has not played since suffering a muscular problem in his right leg in May. That absence has now spilled over into Europe.
Eder Militao and Rodrygo Goes, both sidelined, keep their spots. Mendy does not. José Mourinho has drawn a clear line.
A Door Closes for Mendy, Swings Wide Open for Martinez
Mendy’s exclusion opens the way for 19-year-old Sergio Martinez, a €3 million signing from Racing Santander. Madrid initially bought him for Castilla, a long-term project rather than an instant solution.
That plan has not survived pre-season.
Martinez has caught Mourinho’s eye in first-team training, showing enough personality and precision on the ball to jump from reserve recruit to Champions League squad member in a matter of weeks. He joins 11 other youth prospects on the European list, but his case is different. This is not just about potential. It is about need.
On the left side of defence, the hierarchy has shifted. The arrivals of Marc Cucurella and Alvaro Carreras have pushed Mendy down the pecking order at the Santiago Bernabeu. With cover in that zone now plentiful, Mourinho feels comfortable tackling the group stage without his injured former starter.
The message is unmistakable: Mendy’s place is no longer guaranteed, even when fit.
Defensive Wealth, Midfield Crisis
If left-back looks crowded, midfield is the opposite. The contrast is stark.
In the centre of the pitch, absences are piling up and forcing Mourinho to redraw his European blueprint. Martinez, a midfielder by trade, becomes more than an interesting youngster. He becomes a solution.
Madrid are braced for a severe shortage ahead of their Champions League opener against Inter on September 8. Bernardo Silva, signed in the summer to add craft and control, will serve a suspension after his red card for a deliberate handball against Madrid while captaining Manchester City last season.
Arda Guler and Eduardo Camavinga are also banned for the clash at the Bernabeu. Aurelien Tchouameni is expected to miss out with a muscle issue. Thiago Pitarch remains a major doubt.
That list strips the heart out of Madrid’s midfield.
Mourinho is left scrambling for combinations, searching for balance in an area of the pitch he usually dominates. In that context, Martinez’s name on the squad sheet is no luxury. It is tactical necessity.
The teenager suddenly jumps from long-term project to immediate first-team asset.
From Castilla Plan to Inter Reality
Before Inter arrive, Madrid must navigate La Liga business. Real Betis visit next, and that domestic fixture could become Martinez’s launchpad.
He has already tasted top-flight football with Racing Santander. A debut for Los Blancos in La Liga would be the next logical step, a live rehearsal before Europe’s spotlight hits.
Mourinho will use that Betis clash to test combinations, to measure who can carry the load in a patched-up midfield. Every minute matters now. Every option counts.
Because when Inter walk out at the Bernabeu next week, there will be no hiding place. The Italian champions will probe Madrid’s weakened core, push at the gaps left by suspension and injury, and ask whether a 19-year-old from Santander can really help hold the line on the biggest stage.
Real Madrid’s Champions League campaign will begin with a question: can a squad stretched in midfield, and reshaped on the left, still impose its will on Europe?
