Moatasem Al Musrati: Braga's secret weapon against Real Madrid

The most complete midfielder in Europe, as Jude Bellingham keeps being labelled during the breathtakingly brilliant start to his Real Madrid career, is causing concern to his head coach, Carlo Ancelotti. Bellingham has a tender shoulder, strapped and bandaged beneath his jersey, and he already seems indispensable.

Such has been Bellingham’s influence, a 20 year old who only moved to Spain in the summer, that when he winced in pain after falling awkwardly at the weekend, the Bernabeu stadium held its breath.

He is the leading scorer for Madrid this season – 13 in 14 matches – and the only fixtures they have dropped points in are those where Bellingham has not been on the scoresheet. If he gets the all-clear for Wednesday's Champions League meeting with Braga, he’ll be in search of a fourth goal in as many European matches.

Braga supporters, anticipating their club’s first ever engagement at the Bernabeu, like to think they have the best all-round midfielder in Portuguese football, and feel blessed that for a good stretch of his three-year spell with them, Moatasem Al Musrati has been their best-kept secret.

But so consistently effective is Al Musrati that the sirens call more and more loudly. Ambitious Premier League clubs like Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers have asked about him in recent months; closer-to-home giants like Benfica and Sporting hold a long-term interest. Marseille and Atletico Madrid enquired about Al Musrati, whose contract with Braga runs until 2026, during the summer.

He is several years senior to Bellingham, at 27, but has come to Europe’s elite competition via a far less streamlined path than Bellingham’s route of English club academy followed by Borussia Dortmund’s fabled finishing school.