The moment Odegaard proved he’s different to the rest and determined to succeed at Madrid | OneFootball

Martin Odegaard has not enjoyed his football this season.

The Norwegian midfielder was a key member of Real Sociedad last year but has hardly figured under Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid, a combination of injury and poor form preventing him from breaking into an elite midfield trident of Casemiro, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.

Odegaard didn’t even warm-up during Madrid’s Supercopa de Espana exit to Athletic Bilbao according to a report in Diario AS, but there was an interesting moment post-game.

Odegaard was filmed running on the La Rosaleda pitch as a warm-down, but he was the only unused substitute to do so. Marcelo, Eder Militao and Isco also didn’t come on, but they didn’t warm-down.

Zidane has changed tack in recent weeks, stemming Madrid’s poor early-season form by relying on a narrow group of players as opposed to a policy of rotation.

This has made it harder for him to break into the starting lineup as he hasn’t had the minutes to shine, but going by his attitude post-Athletic, it’s not for a want of effort.