Real Madrid Champions League Squad Shock: Mendy Omitted, Martinez Included

Real Madrid’s Champions League squad list has delivered its first shock of the season – and it lands squarely on Ferland Mendy.

The French left-back, still recovering from a muscular problem in his right leg suffered in May, has been left out of the 25-man group for the league phase. He has not played a minute for Madrid since that injury, and now he will not feature in Europe either.

Others in the treatment room have not suffered the same fate. Eder Militao and Rodrygo Goes both keep their spots on the European list, a clear sign that José Mourinho still views them as central to his plans once fit. Mendy does not enjoy that luxury anymore.

Mendy out, Martinez in

His omission opens the door to one of the more intriguing names on the sheet: Sergio Martinez.

Nineteen years old. Signed from Racing Santander after Madrid activated his €3 million release clause. Initially earmarked for Castilla, the club’s reserve side. Now suddenly on the Champions League roster.

Martinez is a midfielder by trade, not a left-back, but his rise tells a story about where this Madrid squad is strongest and where it is creaking. The youngster has impressed Mourinho in first-team training, enough to leapfrog the usual pathway and land straight in the senior European squad, one of 12 youth prospects to make the cut.

Mourinho’s call also underlines how the hierarchy at left-back has shifted. With Marc Cucurella and Alvaro Carreras arriving, Mendy has slipped down the order at the Santiago Bernabeu. The Portuguese coach clearly feels he has enough cover on that flank to navigate the group stage without the France international.

On one side of the pitch, surplus. On the other, shortage.

A midfield stripped bare

If the defence looks stacked, the midfield tells a very different story.

Injuries and suspensions have ripped through the centre of the pitch and forced Mourinho into uncomfortable compromises with his squad list. Martinez’s inclusion is not just a pat on the back for potential; it is a response to necessity.

Madrid head towards their Champions League opener against Inter on September 8 with a glaring hole in the middle of the park. Bernardo Silva, a headline summer signing, will not be available. His red card for a deliberate handball against Madrid while captaining Manchester City last season still stands, carrying into this campaign and ruling him out of the clash with the Italian champions.

The problems stack up. Arda Guler is suspended. Eduardo Camavinga is suspended. Aurelien Tchouameni is expected to miss out with a muscle issue. Thiago Pitarch remains a major doubt.

That is the spine of a modern Madrid midfield, stripped away in one sweep.

Mourinho is left scrambling for combinations, looking for balance, experience, and legs where there simply are not enough. In that context, Martinez stops being a long-term project and becomes an immediate piece of the puzzle. His presence on the list gives Madrid at least one more body, one more option, one more way to survive the early European weeks.

Betis, then Inter – and a fast track to the spotlight

Before Inter arrive at the Bernabeu, Madrid must first deal with domestic business. Real Betis await in La Liga, and that fixture could become Martinez’s first taste of senior football in white.

He has already sampled the top flight with Racing Santander. The stage, the noise, the tempo will not be completely new. But the weight of the shirt will be different. A debut for Madrid, even in the league, often shapes careers and expectations in a single night.

Mourinho will use that Betis game to measure what he really has at his disposal. Who is ready to start against the Italian champions? Who can cope with the demands of two high-intensity games in quick succession? Who can be trusted when the midfield is patched together and stretched thin?

Because when Inter walk out at the Bernabeu, Madrid’s depth in the middle will face a brutal early-season examination. The absences are real, the margin for error slim. In that cauldron, a teenager signed for €3 million from Santander may find himself called to anchor, support, or simply survive in one of the most unforgiving environments in European football.

Mendy watches from the outside. Martinez steps in. For Madrid, the question is simple: can a squad built on defensive abundance and a makeshift midfield carry them through the first steps of another Champions League campaign?