Tonight, the hero of Real Madrid belongs to a name that seems to be forgotten by many - Lucas Vazquez. After 90 minutes of inextricable battles, people were almost satisfied with the injury-ridden Real Madrid taking a point away from Mendisoloza, but in Real Madrid's almost last chance to score, Kroos took a corner kick from the left and into the heart of the box, and suddenly a figure jumped out of the crowd to head the ball into the Alaves goal, followed by a crazy celebration of the Real Madrid players running to the corner area.
If you look closely, the player who scored the goal was none other than the diminutive Vázquez. Several big and tall men of Real Madrid surrounded Vazquez, and they had a sense of "holding Vazquez in the palm of their hands". In the box, the Alaves defenders were just as close as the fans were to Rudiger, Bellingham, Tchouameni and Joselu, but forgot about the 'humble Vazquez' – who usually delivers crosses from the flanks, rather than the one who grabs the ball in front of goal.
Looking at the whole process of the goal, Rudiger, who was the most powerful header in the Real Madrid team, moved forward at the moment when Kroos took the corner, attracting the attention of 2-3 defenders of Alaves, and 3 players at the back point surrounded Bellingham, although it was indeed difficult for Bellingham to move, but ignored Vazquez and Tchouameni who were in the most dangerous position in the middle of the box. Vazquez made a slight run and jumped lightly, and Alaves goalkeeper Sivera seemed to be drawn to the back post by the defenders, and "Buzz Lightyear" headed in a perfect bounce to help Real Madrid score the meaningful three points.
It was a goal that would have been made possible by Rudiger's clever movements, as well as the negligent Alaves defenders, so it was no wonder manager Luis Garcia was emotional after conceding the goal, but more importantly Vazquez's often brilliant but easily overlooked talent for the spot. It was Real Madrid's first goal of the season for the No.17, but it couldn't have come at a better time. Not only that, Vázquez's contribution to Real Madrid was not only in the goal, but he also performed well in the game with 82 touches, five successful aerial duels in six aerial duels, one key pass, six clearances and four tackles.
The most talked-about news before the game was the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in favor of the European Super League, a decision that could change the fate of European football, causing an uproar in Europe, and one can almost imagine the corners of Real Madrid's president Florentino's mouth instantly raising a smug smile. However, the European Super League still faces many challenges, as the traditional European giants and the leader of the European Super League, at this moment Real Madrid is facing the "small characters" Girona in the league step by step - before the start of the match between Real Madrid and Alaves, Girona just drew 1-1 with Betis at the Lopella Stadium, giving Real Madrid an opportunity to take advantage of the La Liga new talent who has scored more goals than Real Madrid and Barcelona this season, Real Madrid cannot take it lightly.
For Real Madrid, perhaps the biggest concern right now is the serious centre-back crisis. Militão, Alaba and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois have suffered serious cruciate ligament injuries, a rare large-scale injury that even Ancelotti, who has seen the wind and waves, described as "unbelievable". In desperation, Nacho partnered Rudiger in central defence, with Carvajal and Edouard Mendy also sidelined due to injury. Vazquez can't play at centre-back, but Real Madrid need him to play at right-back.
From the start of the 2021-22 season, Vázquez began to appear more at Real Madrid as a right-back than a right winger. Previously, Vázquez was seen as the perfect team player, playing as two wingers and occasionally as a full-back, but with Real Madrid in a crisis at right-back, with main right-back Carvajal missing a lot of games due to a muscle injury, his first substitute Odriosola was also plagued by a calf injury on the one hand, and his ability was indeed limited. In the end, Zinedine Zidane decided to make Vazquez officially a right-back, but many still doubted that Vazquez would be able to play in this unfamiliar position.
In fact, Vázquez showed good defensive quality long before moving to the backline, and he has always been known for his high-intensity running, capable of maintaining a high-speed return on the flanks for 90 minutes. During his time as a right winger, Vázquez consistently put pressure on opponents each season (25) one of the highest in Europe. Vázquez, meanwhile, has an aggressive style of play and likes to defend with tackles, averaging 2-3 wins per game in the opposition defensive half and about 4 5-5 duel duels every 90 minutes, with a 30% win rate, making him one of the best players in La Liga.
In addition, Vázquez's one-on-one ability also meets Real Madrid's requirements for a right-back: in 2018-19 and 2019-20, Vázquez had 50 as a winger2% and 663% one-to-one success rate. At Real Madrid, right-back is one of the most expensive positions for players, and during the Carvajal-Marcelo era, Carvajal on the right had to do a lot of wide coverage and receiving, and after Mendy replaced Marcelo, the role of the right-back as the starting point of attack was emphasised, and both Carvajal and Vazquez were given this task.
These facts are enough to prove that Vázquez is not just a player who is remembered as a player who relies solely on diligence and hard work, but also has great skills, ball intelligence and the ability to handle the ball in confrontation, which is enough to form a good interaction with Real Madrid's big stars, which many famous players cannot do.
Carvajal has been considered one of the best right-backs in Europe for many years and it will not be easy to compete with him, but Vazquez has shown his character. Although Carvajal is already a very active player in the final third, Vázquez's attacking attributes are no slouch and Vazquez can even perform better in terms of expected assists, touches in the opposition box and key passes. Defensively, of course, Carvajal is still superior, and although Vazquez is good at blocking opponents through tackles and physical contact, his success rate is lower than Carvajal, and Carvajal is also better at breaking the ball than Vazquez - this is likely because Vazquez likes to defend through physical contact, while Carvajal is more adept at defending and only chooses to tackle when absolutely necessary.
Obviously, Vázquez's style as a full-back has been influenced by his experience as a winger, and today, the ability to grab points as an attacker has helped him become a winning hero for Real Madrid. Vázquez will also face some controversy as he gets older, with right-backs such as Porro, Fresneda and Frimpong all on the radar of Real Madrid. Real Madrid certainly have a keen interest in Alphonso Davies, but Carvajal and Vazquez remain the options at right-back. Perhaps Frimpong's assists are indeed sharp, but given factors such as defensive attributes and run-ins with teammates, it is difficult to say whether he is the ideal player for Real Madrid, and after today's goal, Vazquez, who made headlines, once again became the object of praise, which added a lot of weight to his continued stay at Real Madrid.
Supine push-ups santiago-wang).