Alaba injury hands Lucas a new opportunity at Real Madrid
Injuries to Alaba and Mendy mean that Nacho will shift over to the left side and leave the right flank free for the Galician, who hasn’t played in over a month.
Real Madrid will be without David Alaba for the next month. With Férland Mendy still sidelined, that means Ancelotti must find a temporary solution at left-back. According to the club’s forecasts, Mendy is two weeks away from returning to full training. He has been out since the end of January, so his return to first team action will not be immediate. In the meantime, Ancelotti will need to call on players to fill in at left-back over the next few weeks, with Nacho as the main candidate (his performance at Anfield underlined his status) with Camavinga and Rüdiger as alternative options
The situation also offers a chance for Lucas Vázquez, who hasn’t played competitively for over a month. His last appearance was back on 11 January, when he picked up an injury during Spanish Super Cup semi-final against Valencia. A sprained ankle kept him out for the following nine games. He was included in the squad for the last three games - against Elche, Osasuna and Liverpool but but didn’t feature in any of them. Nacho has acted as cover for Carvajal in the right-back position but for the next few games, he will to have to focus on the other side.
Lucas Vázquez, until 2024
It is the moment has arrived for Lucas, who has barely accumulated 767 minutes of playing time so far this season (NB. Carvajal has almost 2,000). He started out with plenty of chances and Ancelotti has shown that he trusts him (more than Odriozola, who played his first minutes in the league against Elche last week). The Galician is under contract until June 2024 and Madrid values, above all, his great attitude and how well he has adapted to different positions.