Real Madrid are hungry to send a message to the rest of the world after they were ripped apart by Hansi Flick’s Barcelona machine the previous weekend, and the whole world will be watching when they battle another historic Champions League powerhouse on Tuesday night in AC Milan.
Although most people will be focused on Vinicius Junior after the drama of his Ballon d’Or snub and Kylian Mbappe after his offsides-laden performance against Barcelona, Madridistas will be more interested in another attacking player at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. came into the 2024/25 season with the most attention, but Rodrygo Goes actually began the campaign as the most consistent starter in the Merengue attack.
Rodrygo was sorely missed by Real Madrid in the 4-0 defeat to Barcelona, and there was pessimism that he would be able to suit up against Milan in the Champions League with Osasuna in La Liga at the weekend seen as the most likely return date.
However, Rodrygo is officially called up back to the Real Madrid squad for the Milan matchup after returning to practice with his teammates, meaning he could be in line to start against former Madrid left back Theo Hernandez and Co.
Rodrygo has 4 goal contributions in 648 La Liga minutes with 2.2 key passes and 1.9 dribbles completed per 90, splitting time almost evenly between the starting lineup and bench.
He is a missing piece for Real Madrid in so many ways with his work rate, dribbling quality in tight spaces, chance creation, and intelligence off the ball. Rodrygo has made the right wing his own, even as he is quite clearly a left winger by trade.
With all the focus on Mbappe and Vinicius Jr., perhaps it will be Mr. Champions League who steals the show again in another spotlight game with the whole planet watching.
