Mariano Díaz (26 years old) will return to be important in Real Madrid if the competitions are resumed. Jovic’s injury will have him at least two months away from the playing fields (although the club, as usual, has not estimated a period of absence). That places the youth squad as the only natural alternative Zidane will have to replace Benzema. And he will have to pull it because if the competition resumes it will be with many matches in a few days.
One of the few positive things (if not the only one) that the clubs have had with this hiatus is the opportunity to recover the injured. In Madrid they have the good news of having Courtois, Marcelo and Asensio back (the first two after short absences and the third after more than eight months away). But with Jovic’s injury no one counted.
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Mariano will have a new opportunity to express his opportunities, something in which he is a specialist. This course, when it seemed that he did not even count for the calls, took advantage of the three minutes that Zidane gave him at Madrid-Barça of the second round to sentence the game with a great goal in the discount (it was 2-0). Before that day, he had watched every LaLiga game from the stands.
Despite this, Zidane assured after the Clásico that “Jovic is ahead”, something that was not reflected in the call for the next game: he stayed in Madrid and the one who traveled to Seville to play against Betis was Mariano. With the game uphill, Zizou had him for the final 20 minutes, although this time he was not as lucky as against Barcelona.
Finally, Mariano’s efforts to continue on target can have its reward. The club recommended that he seek a way out last summer because it was not in Zidane’s plans. He even gave his number, the ‘7’, to Hazard. The striker’s high record (around 4.5 million net) and his willingness to continue in Madrid prevented an exit. In the winter market, after not playing for a minute in the first leg of the season, the same situation was repeated: Mariano, with a contract until 2023, refused to leave. Time can prove the footballer, who after taking advantage of those three minutes against Barça, now sees the option of having more opportunities when the competition resumes …
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