Those who wanted to see the teenaged playmaker Martin Odegaard in action for Real Madrid in the European game versus Malmo will be disappointed to know that it’s not going to be the case as the boss Rafa Benitez has decided to go into that game with his full fledged squad despite it being only a dead rubber.

Madrid is already in the knockouts in Europe having won 4 games out of 5 and there is nothing that they have to achieve in the last game now.

There were expectations that because of the game holding no importance, Benitez would opt to give Odegaard a bit of a look in and see how he goes at a big level, in a big game, but, the boss has other views. He is pretty happy letting the Norwegian play for the junior team and progress.

Talking to the press ahead of that game, Benitez said, “Martin’s progressing at a very good rate, but, at the moment, it’s hard to find the space for him.”

Benitez also announced that Sergio Ramos was recovering well, but, is still some distance away from being match fit. Come the Villarreal game, he might be there, but, for the Malmo fixture, he was out of consideration. In the words of the Spaniard, “Sergio hasn’t been included in squad for this one, but, his recovery is going as per the expectations and hopefully, he should be there for the League in the weekend.”

Odegaard might get a few minutes in THAT game, with StanJames offering live odds on that market.

Although, the Los Blancos have been absolutely clinical in Europe and are topping their group, it’s not quite the case in Liga where they are now positioned at no. 3, having lost two in a row last month against Sevilla and Barcelona respectively.