When you consider that Karim Benzema has missed around ten games this season due to injury, casual observers would be forgiven for assuming that Mariano Diaz may have been handed a rare run of games in the Frenchman’s absence.
Real Madrid’s eternal benchwarmer is, for all intents and purposes, Carlo Ancelotti’s second-choice centre-forward. But, not for the first time in recent months, the Blancos boss opted to play someone out of position through the middle than put his trust in poor old Mariano when Benzema was ruled out again last weekend.
In the Frenchman’s absence, Rodrygo started in an ill-suiting ‘number nine’ role during Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat to Mallorca; a defeat which means Barcelona can almost feel cool silver within their grasp.
Only when things looked desperate did Ancelotti bring Mariano off the bench late in the second half; the long-serving centre-forward taking his tally of La Liga minutes to a measly 39 in the Balearic.
Ironically enough, Mariano came closer in just 20 minutes than anyone else in Real white during a frustrating afternoon; looping a late volley ever-so-slightly too high.
Mariano Diaz ‘barely ever plays’ for Real Madrid
Mariano will celebrate his 30th birthday in August. It’s tempting to wonder, at some point down the line, if the one-time Lyon striker looks back and wonders whether his was a career squandered, his tally of La Liga starts since returning to Spain back in 2018 standing at a measly 11.
“They’ve tried to send him out on loan. They’ve tried to sell, and he’s refused to go,” Terry Gibson says (El Tel and Jon’s La Liga Weekly podcast). “I’m not criticising his quality. There’s a club in La Liga for him, (but) it’s not Real Madrid.
“He barely ever plays. When he does come on, he’s not bad. He’s dynamic, he runs the channels.”
Mariano’s contract is running down
As Gibson himself says, it’s not as if Mariano hasn’t had opportunities to swap the Bernabeu bench for a first-team role elsewhere. According to AS, former Real Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui had planned to reunite with Mariano at Wolves; turning to another Madrid-based misfit in Matheus Cunha once it became clear that Mariano wanted to stay at Real until the summer.
With his contract expiring in just a few months’ time, however, Mariano’s future will soon be taken out of his hands. The chances of an extension look slim.
39 La Liga minutes or otherwise, there should be plenty of clubs willing to take a punt on a man who scored 21 goals in 45 games the last time he played week-in, week-out, during a prolific spell at Lyon.
Then again, that was five years ago now. With his 30th birthday approaching, and after half-a-decade warming the bench, is it too late for Mariano to turn all that potential into something more?
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