A couple of years ago, Alvaro Morata was scoring crucial Champions League goals for Real Madrid and Juventus.
Now, with a few seasons of experience under his belt, he’s reduced to leading the line for a Chelsea second string against PAOK on a Thursday night in a Europa League group match.
Such has been the decline of Morata that most people wouldn’t even be confident about him bagging one on the continent this week.
His manager stuck with him as long as he could in the Premier League, but eventually relented and Olivier Giroud was given the start at the weekend.
That means Morata will play in Europe, and has all but officially been demoted to the status of “cup striker”.
It’s a long way back for him from here – how many would he have to score in midweek to get a weekend start?
After 12 months of patience with the former Real Madrid man, it looks like time is running out.
