Nutrition is key if you want to reach  the top in soccer these days, so  players are paying more and more attention to what they eat and drink.

Given that off-the-field habits can contribute to injuries, clubs are  also keeping a beady eye on how  their stars refuel between games.

Some players' efforts to eat right  have led them to cut gluten out of  their diet. Real Madrid and Spain's  Dani Carvajal is one of them.

“Everything has changed since I stopped eating gluten,” Carvajal  told a recent interview with  Spanish TV broadcaster Movistar.

The right-back has largely avoided injuries since changing his diet - albeit he has been ruled out of this week's UCL clash with Union Berlin.

Carvajal is far from the only  player who is now gluten-free.  Sevilla midfielder Ivan Rakitic has  gone down the same route.

Dogged by inflammation  in his joints, Rakitic discovered  that the issue was caused  by a gluten intolerance.

Atlético’s Marcos Llorente and Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski  are also among the elite soccer  players who avoid gluten.

Elsewhere in the world of sport,  tennis legend Novak Djokovic - a 24-time grand slam winner - hasn’t  eaten gluten for the last 13 years.