Aurelien Tchouameni was not at the Allianz Arena for Real Madrid’s elimination against Bayern. He was serving a yellow card suspension. He watched from the sidelines, like everyone else. This season, however, he has been one of the pillars of the white team. Indisputable. Nothing to do with that footballer who not so long ago played under suspicion and listened to the whistles of the Bernabeu.
The midfielder looked back in an interview on Pivot Podcast. He put into words that moment when the spotlight was on him. “I was scapegoated. In the first 10-20 minutes the stadium was booing every time I touched the ball. That situation either destroys you, or you think ‘that’s the way it is’, let’s see what I can control, and the only thing I can control is my performance. The level of pressure at Real Madrid is something different. People are going to talk about everything you do, whether it’s good or bad.”
Tchouameni quickly understood the ground he was treading on. He adjusted his head before his legs. “Everyone was talking about me, about the way I played. One or two years ago I was a bad player, I was booed in the stadium, so I felt that I had been through a lot, and it definitely helped me mentally. Now I know that no matter what I do, people are going to talk, so I just don’t pay attention to it. Playing for Real Madrid is the biggest stage in sport: pressure is a privilege.”
The Frenchman also stopped to talk about what happened in the Champions League with Vinicius and Prestianni. He did not shy away from the subject. He was direct.
A limit to racist insults“They called him a monkey. I feel that the next step will be to stop playing. We are not going to allow those scenes to happen again”. The phrase hangs in the air, without nuances. Like a clear warning while the noise of the stadium is still in the background.
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