Alexander-Arnold warned brutal Mourinho snub is coming at Real Madrid | OneFootball

Jose Mourinho will likely leave Trent Alexander-Arnold on the bench when Real Madrid face the best teams in the Champions League, according to Joe Cole.

Alexander-Arnold left boyhood club Liverpool for Madrid in a deal worth just €10million (£8.4m) in May 2025 after running down his contract at Anfield. Since then, the right-back has made 39 appearances for Los Blancos in all competitions.

Alexander-Arnold has yet to score his first goal for Madrid, though he has managed eight assists so far.

It was a difficult debut season for Alexander-Arnold at the Bernabeu as hamstring and thigh injuries limited both his game time and influence on Madrid. He missed out on Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup as a result.

Alexander-Arnold is back fit, and he has registered one assist in four games so far this term. The 27-year-old was selected in midfield during Madrid’s 2-1 Champions League win over Inter Milan on Tuesday, but his sub-par performance left us with more questions than answers.

On talkSPORT, Cole – who played under Mourinho at Chelsea – predicted Alexander-Arnold will be benched if Madrid make the latter stages of the Champions League.

The pundit said: “It’s going to be difficult for Trent. First of all, I love him, I think he’s an unbelievable footballer, but when it’s a Jose team, I think it usually is defence first, right? It’s, ‘stop the back door’.

“And he’s been tried in midfield as well, I like him in midfield, but there’s being a midfielder and then there’s being a Real Madrid midfielder.

“Like Trent, of course he’s going to get played, he’s a genius with the football, he can play anywhere on the pitch.

“But to get to the levels that’s needed for Real Madrid to win the league and Champions League… he did OK [vs Inter].

“And Dumfries at the back, them two are not like for like, are they? They’re chalk and cheese.

“So Jose, I think, will use him [Alexander-Arnold] in certain games.

Dumfries tipped to ‘get the nod’ over Trent Alexander-Arnold

“But I think when the push comes to the shove and they’re playing the big hitters, Dumfries might be the one that gets the nod because he’s more of a defender.”

After the Inter clash, Mourinho said: “I thank Trent Alexander-Arnold for his efforts to play in a position that is not his.

“It’s very clear that his qualities are made for the full-back position, not for midfield.

“He has played midfield with England and Liverpool, but he is not a midfielder. He has played very well, he has interpreted what he needed to really well, tactically.”

Mourinho continued:”He has lost some balls because it is not the same to play in this position compared to at right-back.

“The intensity of physical work is quite difficult, he has a different engine. He has given 100 per cent, he left the pitch with nothing left to give.”