Pablo de la Calle

Updated Saturday, February 3, 2024-22:01

400 candles for the boy who laid the first stone of the new Real Madrid Sports City.

Dani Carvajal , that little blonde kid who accompanied

Alfredo Di Stéfano

on May 12, 2004

at the inauguration of the works on the Valdebebas complex, will play today, in the Madrid derby, his 400th game with the team of his life. Nearly 20 years have passed since that iconic photograph. Di Stéfano is no longer here, but that young player has become an emblem of the club.

Golden numbers for a full-back who, after a season on loan to Bayer Leverkusen, debuted in the Real Madrid first team on August 18, 2013, at the Bernabéu stadium, in a League match against Betis (2-1 ). Since then, when he competed for

Álvaro Arbeloa's

position

on the right wing, he has played 399 games, in which he has scored 11 goals and provided 54 assists. In the showcase of titles, three Leagues, two Copas del Rey,

five Champions

Leagues, five Club World Cups and three European Super Cups stand out. Today he will add 400 games and will be only one away from those played by the unforgettable

Juanito Gómez

. The record is held by

Raúl González , with 741. In the current squad, only

Luka Modric

(512) and

Toni Kross

(446) surpass him

.

At 32 years old, he is having a packed season. He is a fixture on coach

Luis de la Fuente

's lists

and, barring a catastrophe, will be in this summer's Euro Cup. In 17 League games he has scored three goals (in the previous 10 seasons he had scored five), he is the team's fifth scorer. He also signed one in the last semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup. His contributions in containment and arrival work are splendid. Since he changed his eating habits (

he discovered that gluten caused inflammation in his muscles

), his performance is more constant and injuries have stopped being a hindrance.

He is the undisputed starter for

Carlo Ancelotti.

The Italian appreciates his versatility and recognized it after the victory against Atlético de Madrid in the last Super Cup: «Carvajal has a lot of character and football. He is a fantastic player, with a tremendous personality and a spectacular character. His presence is very important to us. He contributes a lot in the attacking phase. Carvajal is valuable as an emergency resource and today, due to

Rüdiger's

discomfort

, he could be an alternative to occupy the central zone of the defense, other options are

Mendy

and

Camavinga

, as Ancelotti pointed out yesterday in the press conference prior to the derby .

The Madrid offices highly value Carvajal's commitment and plan to offer him a renewal of the contract that ends in 2025. They could offer him one season and the option for another depending on his performance. The full-back's intention is

to close his sporting career at the white club

.

In his 11 seasons in white he has played 30 derbies against Atlético. Among active Real Madrid players, only Modric (37) and Kroos (32) surpass him in this section. The record for the protagonists of the teams that will face each other tonight at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium is held by K

oke Resurrección

, with 39.