Christian Atsu sits on the bench as Malaga wins

Ghana international winger Christian Atsu failed to make his debut for Spanish side Malaga as he warmed the bench for the entire period in their 2-1 away win over Eibar on Saturday.

The 24-year-old was named on the Malaga bench after training with the side for the first time on Tuesday and continuing through their sessions.

But manager Javi Garcia kept him on the bench at the Estadio Municipal de Ipurúa and failed to offer him a feel of Spanish football on his first night on a La Liga bench.

Atsu was called from his loan spell at Bournemouth and farmed out to the La Liga outfit for regular playing time purpose but if Saturday's signal is anything to go by, the 2015 AFCON Most Valuable Player Award winner must step up to get playing time.

Atsu has had unsuccessful loan spells at Everton and Bournemouth but flourished at Vitesse Arnhem in the Dutch Eredivisie three seasons ago.