Imagine this: You are your country's golden child.

You're the one playing for one of the biggest clubs in the entire world. The one expected to dominate for said club and then return to your nation and lead it to the kind of greatness that is only expected once in a lifetime.

Now imagine that this young player has a few solid years for this club in his youth, before his prime years. But his team decides to bring in another superstar to compete for your job, and before you know it, you are out of said job and sent packing.

But instead of being sent to a small side to get more playing time, you go to a better club that says it wants you. But there you are faced with fighting for playing time with a star player that suddenly goes from inconsistent to on fire. And you have to ride the pine. During your prime years.

And even when your team starts to struggle and the man ahead of you in the pecking order cannot find the back of the net, you are still chained to the bench.

Life sure has been unkind to Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez.

The Mexican star, who was once the hope of his nation, has played 90 minutes for Madrid just twice this year and has played more than 27 minutes a grand total of three times (those two 90 minutes games are included in this total).

It is no wonder that Chicharito has managed a grand total of three games and one assist on the year, and two of those goals came in a game where his team was already up by five or six goals.

More pertinently, he has not scored since Oct. 18 in a 5-0 win over Levante.

That same Levante side heads to the Bernabeu this weekend and there are questions over whether the Mexican, who has played a grand total of 67 minutes for Real Madrid in 2015, might get a start against the last team he scored on over five months ago.

It certainly would not be a bad idea for Carlo Ancelotti, who needs to make some changes to ignite a Madrid side that simply cannot stop embarrassing itself. The Levante side is a must win, but it comes with greater needs. Madrid is expected to win, but a 2-0 result will not be satisfactory. The team needs another 5-0 win to remind people of how dominant and confident the team can be and allay some fears heading into the decisive game against Barcelona.

Obviously you want to field your top stars in a game needed for confidence boosting, and Karim Benzema is certainly superior to Chicharito in every respect.

However, the Mexican must be anxious for an opportunity to prove himself and that motivation alone might make him break out at home against a 17th place Levante side. Moreover, he is more rested than Benzema and might give the team more energy on the pitch. He might not be as mobile as the Frenchman or as creative, but he is strong in the box and his presence alone might create different kinds of issues for a Levante defense, which has conceded a league-worst 49 goals on the year (Rayo Vallecano has also conceded 49 goals this season).

This has been Chicharito's most unproductive season, but a lot of that has to be attributed to his minutes played. He had 840 minutes with Manchester United in 2013-14 and scored four goals and two assists. He had 10 goals in 2012-13 in 949 minutes and had 10 a year earlier in 1477. The stats in 2012-13 were attributed to his being able to put up two shots per game; he has only averaged 0.6 shots per game with Madrid in his limited time. He is never going to be a top option ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale, but given opportunities, he should produce more than he has.

He will likely get more opportunities against Levante if he plays, and thus, will have the chance to not only boost his own confidence but also his team's.