Shocking turnaround: Real Madrid star an "enigma" at the Bernabeu

The tables turn: Real Madrid star out of the picture

Eight minutes with Real Madrid, and seven minutes with the Portugal national team. That is the total amount of time Bernardo Silva has played since 12 September.

Real Madrid and Portugal have played seven matches since that date. The midfielder's involvement has been negligible, and at times non-existent.

The newspaper Sport reckon Bernardo Silva's disappearance from the picture is as surprising as it is mysterious.

Bernardo Silva began the season as an important player in Jose Mourinho's plans. The coach handed him a versatile role on the pitch, tasking him with bringing fluidity and speed to the circulation of the ball.

That is no marginal point. His arrival looked capable of addressing part of the major shortcomings Real Madrid have suffered from over several seasons.

Getty Images Sport
Mourinho criticised Bernardo Silva's physical condition in a sarcastic manner
All the indications suggested that the Portuguese player's role would be pivotal in Real Madrid's line-up throughout the season, and that he would be one of the most important signings the club made during the summer transfer window. But after only two months of competition, it appears that Bernardo Silva has disappeared from Mourinho's plans.
Mourinho has opted for a holding midfield pairing built on physical strength and the legs to keep moving constantly: Fede Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni. Arda Guler's form doesn't help either. Nor does the sheer number of bodies available to fill the attacking roles behind the striker, all of which leaves Bernardo Silva with next to no route into a more advanced position.
During the summer, Mourinho criticised his Portuguese player's physical condition in a sarcastic manner, saying: "He is a very important player for us, but the poor guy is another one of those who like to do nothing during the holidays. Doing nothing in his free time did him good, and that is why he came back in a worse physical condition, and he has to improve."
That was the start of August. Two months on, the uncertainty around Bernardo Silva has only grown.
His limited minutes with the Portugal national team point the same way, suggesting his physical condition is the main reason he keeps missing out. Still, it's a surprise when the player in question is a former Manchester City star of his stature.

Getty Images Sport
Bernardo Silva has played 282 minutes with Real Madrid
Since his first professional appearance with Monaco in 2014, Bernardo Silva has played between 44 and 58 matches in each of his seasons, as well as starting in almost every game.
He is a player who has been accustomed to exceeding 3,000 minutes of playing time every season, and in some seasons he even reached 4,000 minutes. At Real Madrid, though, he has managed just 282 minutes, most of them in the opening weeks of the current campaign.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, are crying out for exactly what he offers: a footballer who sees the picture early, who never stops moving, who demands the ball off his team-mates.
The mystery deepens. Over the coming months, Madrid will find out whether they judged this deal right.