Mariano Diaz is set to start for Real Madrid at Inter Milan but he is not wanted

PETE JENSON: Only 99 minutes of football this season, third-choice and not rated by Zinedine Zidane… Mariano Diaz is set to start for Real Madrid at Inter Milan as their striker crisis goes on but his future is almost certainly away from the Bernabeu

  • Mariano Diaz is likely to start up front for Real Madrid against Inter Milan
  • Zinedine Zidane has a striker shortage with Karim Benzema and Luka Jovic out
  • But Zidane doesn’t rate Diaz, who had transfer offers from Premier League clubs
  • He has one goal in two appearances and has always fired when given a chance
  • Diaz will now the lead the line in the vital Champions League game at San Siro 

Zinedine Zidane has a reputation for being the coach who backs his players but the support is not for everyone.

Dani Ceballos, Marcos Llorente and Sergio Reguilon are at Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Tottenham respectively because the Real Madrid coach deemed them surplus to requirements.

When all three get called up for the Spain squad questions are asked of Zidane’s judgement and those same questions were asked at the weekend when Mariano Diaz was Real Madrid’s best player. Why has Zidane ignored him for so long?

Mariano Diaz is set to be handed a rare start for Real Madrid against Inter Milan on Wednesday

Diaz scored Real's goal in their 1-1 draw at Villarreal on Saturday with Karim Benzema injured

Diaz scored Real’s goal in their 1-1 draw at Villarreal on Saturday with Karim Benzema injured

MARIANO DIAZ’S RECORD AT REAL 

Appearances: 42

Minutes played: 1,086

Goals: 11

Assists: 2

This season

Appearances: 2

Minutes played: 99

Goals: 1

Assists:

Why did it take an injury to Karim Benzema and a coronavirus positive for Luka Jovic to leave the manager with no choice but to play a player who had various English clubs trailing him in the last transfer window but who has never lost faith in his ability to make the grade at the Spanish champions?

Mariano will be needed on Wednesday night again in what is Real Madrid’s most important game of the season so far, against Inter Milan.

There is still no Benzema and still no Jovic. The 27-year-old will be out to make yet another point but such is Zidane’s inflexibility in terms of changing his mind about a player it may be that Mariano is playing on Wednesday night, not for his Madrid future, but to improve his options at the end of the season or even in January when the window opens once more.

Mariano was offered around in the summer and both West Ham and West Brom showed an interest. It was his decision to stick it out despite Zidane’s reluctance to put his faith in him that made any deal a non-starter.

Mariano has always scored goals. He originally signed for Real Madrid’s C team in 2012 and when he moved up to the B-team he scored 32 goals in 44 games.

When he failed to go to the next level – more through lack of opportunities than failure to take them – he moved to French side Lyon and his impressive goal-scoring record continued with 18 goals in 37 appearances. In 2018 he rejoined Madrid from the French side for £21m but chances have been few and far between. 

Karim Benzema is still nursing a tweaked muscle sustained in Madrid's defeat by Valencia

Karim Benzema is still nursing a tweaked muscle sustained in Madrid’s defeat by Valencia

Zidane doesn't rate Diaz though and he would have been allowed to leave over the summer

Zidane doesn’t rate Diaz though and he would have been allowed to leave over the summer

So far in the Champions League he has played just 78 minutes. And that after scoring a brilliant goal back in September 2018 under Julen Lopetegui against Roma.

He scored that goal with the number seven on his back. While others had cowered away from taking Cristiano Ronaldo’s old shirt number in the first campaign without him Mariano was up for the challenge.

‘It’s just a number even though I respect those who have worn it,’ he said after scoring that stunner against Roma. 

‘Mariano honours the 7’ read Marca’s headline and Raul – another famous Real Madrid number seven – went down to the dressing room to congratulate him.

Diaz was sold to French side Lyon but was bought back in 2018 for £21m after catching the eye

Diaz was sold to French side Lyon but was bought back in 2018 for £21m after catching the eye

Despite that great start he played less than an hour more of football in the competition and when Lopetegui was replaced by first Santiago Solari and then by the returning Zidane he has been called up less and less.

He has never let it affect his fitness or his mental state. It took him just 30 seconds to score in El Clasico when he came on towards the end of last season and just two minutes at the weekend against Villarreal.

The way he powered in front of Mario Gaspar at the weekend to score Real Madrid’s goal reminded everyone of his predatory instincts and finisher’s hunger and his all-round performance was such that Madrid’s team performance tailed off when he was taken off late in the second half.

Zidane was asked why he was taken off when the team were in desperate need of a winning goal. He said it was because Mariano had hardly played and therefore was struggling to go the full 90 minutes. Whose fault is that? Madrid fans ask. 

Diaz helped Real win LaLiga last season by scoring the winner against Barcelona in El Clasico

Diaz helped Real win LaLiga last season by scoring the winner against Barcelona in El Clasico

You get the feeling even a stellar performance on Wednesday night will only raise the club’s chances of selling him in the next window so they can save for Kylian Mbappe or even Erling Haaland.

When Zidane decides about a player it is hard for him to change his mind. It feels like he was wrong about Reguilon, Llorente and Ceballos. His excuse with those three was that there were other options he preferred.

With Mariano Diaz there is no such justification. Madrid don’t have many options at centre-forward beyond Benzema. They lack variation in personnel and formation. 

They need a forward who scores goals like Mariano does, and he doesn’t need too many minutes to do it.