After clinching the decisive assist in the Madrid derby, a revitalized Trent Alexander-Arnold took to Instagram with a powerful message following his omission from Thomas Tuchel’s England lineup.
Reports suggest the right-back was benched for Real Madrid’s starting squad in the derby due to tardiness.
This development occurred just days after England manager Tuchel overlooked Alexander-Arnold for the national team, marking his fourth consecutive absence and raising significant doubts about his World Cup prospects this summer.
At 27, Alexander-Arnold was brought on as a substitute for Dani Carvajal in the 64th minute of Sunday’s match, immediately making his presence felt. He nearly scored himself, but Atletico Madrid’s goalkeeper, Juan Musso, deflected his free-kick.
Shortly thereafter, he skillfully navigated past a faltering Atletico player from within his own half, setting up Vinicius Junior on the edge of the penalty area.
Alexander-Arnold wrote: ‘Madrid. Y nada mas’, which translates to ‘Madrid. And nothing else’
The Brazilian winger then danced across the box’s edge before delivering a pristine strike into the far right corner, securing Real Madrid’s victory.
Writing on social media alongside a picture of him alongside Vinicius Junior, Alexander-Arnold wrote: ‘Madrid. Y nada mas’, which translates to ‘Madrid. And nothing else’.
Alexander-Arnold has seen his situation stabilise at Real Madrid since the departure of Xabi Alonso and the promotion of Alvaro Arbeloa from the club’s third-division reserve team in January.
Although he hasn’t enjoyed a significant uptick in playing time, reports suggest that Arbeloa thinks highly of the Englishman.
And the Spaniard played down Alexander-Arnold’s absence from the starting XI in his post-match press conference, without confirming what had happened.
Reports say that Alexander-Arnold had arrived around 20 minutes late for Saturday’s training session, and that he had accepted the punishment and apologised to his coach, captain Dani Carvajal and the rest of his team-mates.
A day prior, Alexander-Arnold had learned of Tuchel’s decision to leave him out of the England squad for the last international camp before the Geman finalises his squad for this summer’s tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
With Chelsea’s Reece James – England’s first-choice right-back under Tuchel – missing the friendly games against Uruguay and Japan on 27 and 31 March due to a hamstring injury, many believed that Alexander-Arnold would be a near certainty to be included for the first time since June 2025.
But despite playing for Real Madrid in the knockout stages of the Champions League and England stalwarts Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier being retired, the former Liverpool defender finds himself with at least five other players in front of him. Those include Jarrell Quansah, Djed Spence and Tino Livramento.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s World Cup hopes appear to have been dashed by Thomas Tuchel after he was left out for a fourth successive time under the German
‘A slightly different profile,’ Tuchel said when asked about what the other players bring.
‘It’s not what Trent cannot offer us. I know very well what Trent can offer.
‘I suffered when he played against my teams with Liverpool. I know very well about his strengths and what he can give.’
Tuchel stressed that he has not closed the door to Alexander-Arnold becoming involved in his World Cup squad, although he did express concerns last year over his defending.
‘I can see that sometimes he relies heavily on his offensive contributions, and gives not so much emphasis on the defensive discipline and effort,’ he said last May.
‘I think there is a point to it. This major impact that he had for Liverpool over so many years, if he wants to have this impact in the English national team, then he has to take the defensive part very, very seriously.
‘Because when we are talking, especially, about qualifying football and then tournament football, the one defensive error, the one moment where you are not 100 per cent awake, can be decisive, can be the moment where you pack your suitcases and go home.’
