France and Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni has insisted that he is not a failure at Santiago Bernabeu despite criticism about his performance since joining the Los Blancos.

Tchouameni joined Real Madrid from Monaco last summer for a fee worth £85m/$107m and was a regular in the Los Blancos starting lineup before the World Cup, but the tides changed after the World Cup for the French midfielder who has had to deal with limited playing time since then.

Aside from losing his Real Madrid spot, Tchouameni also lost his place in the national team to fellow Real Madrid teammate Eduardo Camavinga, and despite all of the recent incidents, he is unfazed.

“I am confident; I know what I can do. There can be difficult moments in an athlete’s career, and it’s the first time it happened to me – but I’m still learning. There’s a lot of competition at Real, and you need to be good to play.” Tchouameni said.

Tchouameni, who is injured, has not played a full game for Real Madrid since the World Cup, he will hope to return to training soon, but weekend fixtures are too early for him to return.

The 23 years old has made 21 appearances for Real Madrid in La Liga this season; although he hasn’t scored a goal yet, he has provided three assists; he also has six UEFA Champions League appearances this season.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men would return to La Liga action on Sunday, April 2nd, when they host Real Valladolid at Santiago Bernabeu. Real Madrid would hope to restart their campaign on a winning note and hope to get closer to Barcelona, who are twelve points ahead.

Barcelona will face Elche away from home when La Liga resumes this weekend. With Barcelona playing on Saturday before Real Madrid on Sunday, Barcelona could go 15 points clear temporarily if they win.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu