“Our only weapon”, “What a joke” – Real Madrid fans furious with Ancelotti for benching 23-year-old against Atletico Madrid

Real Madrid fans have criticized manager Carlo Ancelotti for benching midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni for their La Liga clash at Atletico Madrid on Sunday (September 24).

Tchouameni, 23, started all five league games for Los Blancos previously this season, with the La Liga giants winning on each occasion. He has tallied 384 minutes across these games, playing the full 90 minutes in three of them.

The Frenchman played 66 minutes in Madrid's 1-0 home win over Union Berlin in their UEFA Champions League opener in midweek. However, he now finds himself out of the starting lineup for the first time this season.

Ancelotti has instead named veterans Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, new signing Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga in midfield for the clash at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Tchouameni - who is yet to make a goal contribution in six games across competitions this season - had to settle a place on the bench. Fans of the club have expressed their disappointment at the youngster's exclusion from the starting XI, with one writing on X (formerly Twitter):

"Tchouameni is on the bench? Our only weapon against these terrorists"

Another chimed in:

"What a joke. Why is Tchouameni benched bro. Carlo needs to do better. Kross em is not it"

Here are some of the best reactions on X:

Los Blancos trail their arch-rivals Barcelona (16) by a point ahead of their clash against Atletico but have a game in hand.

---

How have Real Madrid fared this season?

Real Madrid have had a fabulous start to their 2023-24 campaign. Ancelotti's side have won six games across competitions, which includes five games in the league and one in the UEFA Champions League.

After opening their league campaign with a 2-0 win at Athletic Bilbao, Los Blancos won 3-1 at Almeria and 1-0 at Celta Vigo. They then beat Getafe 2-1 in their first home game of the season at the renovated Santiago Bernabeu.

Madrid then prevailed over Real Sociedad at home by the same scoreline in their next league outing. That marked the first time in more than six decades that the La Liga giants won their first five league games in a season in consecutive outings.

Ahead of the Atletico clash, Real Madrid opened their quest for a record-extending 15th Champions League title with a narrow 1-0 win over Bundesliga side Union Berlin.