"Wtf happened to him starting", "They swore he would start" - Real Madrid fans surprised as star left out of XI for Al-Hilal clash

Fans are unhappy with Xabi Alonso’s decision to start Arda Guler from the bench in the Club World Cup match between Real Madrid and Al-Hilal. The two sides are set to face off in Florida on Wednesday (June 18).

Since joining Real Madrid from Fenerbahçe in 2019, Guler has found game time hard to come by. While his lack of enough playing time has persisted, he was named in the starting XI of Los Blancos’ last four games of the 2024-25 campaign.

Real Madrid will be keen to win the first edition of FIFA’s revamped club competition with Xabi Alonso in charge. Given the strength of their opponents, fans expect Alonso to give minutes to youngsters within the squad when they face Al-Hilal.

Real Madrid’s lineup for the game against the Saudi Pro League club has been released. New signings Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen were handed their debut starts, but Arda Guler couldn’t make it into Alonso’s starting XI.

The decision not to name the Turkish star as a starter didn’t sit well with some Los Blancos faithful, as they took to X to express their displeasure, with one writing:

"Wtf happened to arda guler starting??"

Another tweeted:

"Random bum starting over Arda Guler.Xabi is worse than Carlo." "No Arda Guler? What has the kid done to the Madrid board?" @SiSenorRM queried. “I thought I read tweets saying Arda Guler was the first name on the team sheet 👀 what happened 🤷🏽‍♂️” @thepropagator96 wrote. "They swore Guler would start…smh," @b_funmi chimed in.

“We have to prepare for the game in the best possible way” – Xabi Alonso on what Real Madrid must do in their CWC match ahead of their CWC match against Al-Hilal

Real Madrid’s match against Al-Hilal will be Xabi Alonso’s first game as Los Blancos manager. Speaking to the media in the post-match press conference, the Spanish gaffer urged his team to show the hunger to win when they take on Simone Inzaghi’s men.

He said via (the club's official website):

““We have to prepare for the game in the best possible way. The opponent will be tough, but we have to focus on ourselves. We don't know how they're going to play because Inzaghi hasn't had a game yet. They're a team with a lot of quality and good players. They have a top-level coach who was just in the Champions League final. It's an intense challenge for us”.

On what mustn’t be missing against, Al-Hilal, he said:

“A hunger to win, to compete and to try to play well. Self-respect, defending the badge and that team commitment. The team already has that and we're going to try to add some subtleties. We have to play as a team.”

Real Madrid are the most successful team in the Club World Cup, having won the competition the most (5).

Edited by Ezekiel Olamide