Real Madrid star faces being benched by Julen Lopetegui for influential maestro

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Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui is fortunate enough to have plenty of world class talent at his disposal, but he reportedly faces a difficult decision in midfield.

The Spanish tactician replaced Zinedine Zidane earlier this summer, and the La Liga campaign has started well as Los Blancos have won both their opening games.

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However, Luka Modric has started both outings on the bench as he continues to work his way back to full fitness after his World Cup exploits, but there will come a point where he will be ready to feature in the starting line-up on a consistent basis.

In turn, Lopetegui must decide who will drop out of his starting XI, and Don Balon claim that it will be Casemiro who faces being relegated to the bench in order to make space for the Croatian international.

That would leave him with a midfield trio of Isco, Toni Kroos and Modric, in what is seemingly an overly-attacking line-up which could be exploited against the top teams when they don’t dominate possession.

With that in mind, Casemiro will surely still have a pivotal role to play, but the report suggests that he may not be considered a regular in the XI moving forward.

The 26-year-old has been a fundamental figure for Real Madrid in their success over the last three years, making over 150 appearances since returning from his loan spell with Porto.

Zinedine Zidane evidently considered him a major part of his plans, and so it will be interesting to see how the situation unfolds and whether Casemiro becomes frustrated with a lack of playing time.

As per The Express, the French tactician has been linked with potentially taking over at Man Utd, and so perhaps if Casemiro’s situation deteriorates at the Bernabeu, a reunion in Manchester could be on the cards.

There still seems to be some way to go before that happens, but it could be an interesting development that United fans would welcome to bolster their midfield options.

More Stories Casemiro Julen Lopetegui Luka Modric