Inside Spain: Trent Alexander-Arnold latest, captivating left-back and Carlo Ancelotti lecturing Diego Simeone | OneFootball

Inside Spain is a weekly instalment brought to you by Football España, providing an insight into all of the major stories coming out of the rich and intense climes of La Liga and beyond.

As another international break descends, the fixture congestion debate was given significant reason to rear its head again, after Dani Carvajal suffered one of the most gruesome injuries seen for a while. He tore three types of tendons and ligaments against Villarreal on Saturday night, and will miss a year of action.

Meanwhile Eder Militao and Vinicius Junior are missing Brazil duty with injuries, while Kylian Mbappe was fit enough to start against Villarreal in their 2-0 win, but not to travel for France duty, causing no shortage of ire in his home nation.

Of course that has raised questions about the right-back position at Real Madrid. Los Blancos insist they will not sign a replacement for Carvajal, and while it does seem it would be for next summer, it has only increased links to Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The latest in Spain is that Real Madrid are optimistic about signing him if he can resist Liverpool’s attempts to make him stay, and reports appear to suggest contract talks have been postponed with Liverpool this week.

On the other flank, Los Blancos and Barcelona are being linked with a move for Benfica’s Alvaro Carreras. The 21-year-old Spanish youth international is formerly of Manchester United, and they have a buyback option on the left-back, but if the Clasico duo do go after him, they may want to act sooner rather than later. The pair are also believed to be battling for Bayer Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah. As with Alexander-Arnold, the German international is just three months away from being able to sign a contract.

Real Madrid stayed within three points of the rampant Barcelona, who have 10-goal Robert Lewandowski fresh off a hat-trick in Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Alaves. That was after the worst Champions League night in Spain’s history, as Girona lost to Feyenoord, Real Madrid to Lille and Atletico Madrid to Benfica.

Los Colchoneros struggled mightily in Lisbon, losing 4-0, and could only manage a draw aat Real Sociedad. They have the best defence in the division, but despite Alexander Sorloth, Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann up front, have five draws from nine games, even if they are undefeated.

Meanwhile Pedro Porro has been speaking positively about a move to Madrid while on Spain duty, where not all of La Liga’s managers have the weekend off. There is also the curious situation where Carlo Ancelotti could end up lecturing Diego Simeone on management this weekend, as part of the UEFA Pro Licence process.