Lucas Vázquez (Curtis, A Coruña; 33 years old) renewed last summer for a season with Madrid. A much more peaceful process than his previous contract extension, in 2021, when his name was not among the priorities of the club’s management. For months, he did not hide that the negotiations were stuck while the coach at the time, Zinedine Zidane, publicly demanded his continuity. It was the 20-21 campaign, the same one in which Dani Carvajal’s frequent muscle injuries led him to play as a right back in around twenty games. It was there, in that corner, where the Galician’s revaluation took place to consolidate his stay at the Bernabéu.
Four years later, with more status and definitively placed in that position, Lucas Vázquez receives sine die the position of the fallen and better Carvajal just when Madrid enters the lion’s den of the calendar: until Christmas awaits the classic, Dortmund, Milan, visits to Mestalla, Bilbao, Girona, Bergamo, Liverpool and Vallecas, and the Intercontinental Cup in Qatar. Starting this Saturday in Vigo (9:00 p.m., DAZN), where Luka Modric, if he participates, will surpass Ferenc Puskas as the oldest Madrid player (39 years and 41 days) to play a clash with the whites (three days older than the Hungarian) .
“Lucas Vázquez will have no problems playing all the games I give him. “His physique is a matter that we don’t even contemplate,” Carlo Ancelotti commented this Friday about a footballer with a sign of being austere, reliable and competitive who, except for an emergency signing or the surprise emergence of a youth squad, faces a unique horizon in his ten seasons in Madrid. , with 60 meetings until mid-July. Almost 5,500 potential minutes, when so far only in a couple of courses has it approached 3,000. At the moment, already waiting to see if the entity considers entering the market inevitable, in the next 15 games until January he is one of the five healthy pure defenders (Jesús Vallejo, on the sidelines) for four positions after the severe thinning of this line between injuries and the club’s selective transfer policy. When the Galician is not available, Carletto points to Militão for that flank.
Almost a year ago, after Alaba broke his cruciate, Ancelotti was blunt: Madrid would not go to the winter market despite being left with only two centre-backs. This Friday, in his first appearance after Carvajal’s misfortune, the coach’s response was almost no. “At the moment, we are not thinking about making signings,” said the Italian, who said that he had not asked the club for reinforcements, that it has “homegrown players who can contribute,” and that the Austrian “is recovering well and will soon work with the team.” ”. However, he left a tagline: “We do not rule out signing a suitable player, but that is not that simple.”
For now, the locker room’s beans are counted and all the accounts go to Lucas Vázquez, who in this start has suffered from Madrid’s general difficulties in starting from behind. On the night Stuttgart was relieved at half-time after several very delicate losses (in total, five) and Alavés threatened with the comeback thanks to a first goal that came from a concession by them (11 in the entire duel).
Beyond these initial cracks shared with other teammates, perseverance—as La Fábrica technicians warned—and the competitive spirit have guided the career of this winger of training who was a hidden player in the quarry, one of those who does not exploit the first. He was not at the head of that Castilla of Carvajal, Nacho, Joselu, Morata, Jesé and Cheryshev, it took him two seasons to be a starter in the reserve team, he was sold to Espanyol for 500,000 euros and repurchased the following year for one million. The most flowery description of him was made by Santiago Solari, in 2019, when he was his coach. “He has the virtues that I value most in the Spanish character: he is supportive and brave,” proclaimed the Argentine, who preferred him in attack ahead of Gareth Bale. This Friday, Ancelotti was more prosaic when asked about his resistance in a bare defense: “One of his qualities is physical strength and the ability to run a lot. “He is very active and dynamic,” he concluded.
“I don’t see Mbappé affected”
In the midst of Kylian Mbappé’s most delicate days since he signed for Madrid due to a rape complaint in a Stockholm hotel that could incriminate him, Carlo Ancelotti assured that he does not see it affected “at all.” “He has taken advantage of the break to improve his condition. He is very well, happy. These 15 days have helped him a lot. He is a different player than before. I see him close to 100% of his level,” said the Italian coach.
