Real Madrid are in Saudi Arabia as they prepare for their Spanish Supercup semi-final on Wednesday night, where they will face Valencia. Without David Alaba and Aurelien Tchouameni through injury, Carlo Ancelotti decided to bring in 18-year-old midfielder Mario Martin in the Frenchman’s stead.

Brought up to the Castilla side by Raul Gonzalez, he skipped the Juvenil A side to move straight up and play 20 games last season. This campaign he has been an ever-present in midfield for Raul.

Diario AS say that he has similarities with Tchouameni in that he is theoretically a defensive midfielder, but has far more to his game than that, possessing a powerful shot from distance. Despite not being particularly sizable, he packs a punch and is strong in the challenge. DAZN have compared his style of tackling to Xavi Alonso.

The thing that stands out about Martin is his reliability. The youngster is known for never making mistakes and while perhaps not being a prodigious talent, Martin is well-liked by his managers for executing his duties flawlessly.

With the likes of Dani Ceballos and Eduardo Camavinga rarely seeing consistent minutes, Martin’s chances of making an impact at the Supercopa are slim, but Ancelotti will not have taken him for nothing.

Source: football-espana.net