Real Madrid can feel fortunate to have come away from their Champions League semifinal first leg battle against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena with a 2-2 draw.
For most of the match, Real Madrid were outplayed by a more fervent Bayern side, perhaps out to prove that they are much more than their Bundesliga results have showed this season.
Coming into the tie as favorites, Real Madrid looked like they were fighting to stay afloat. Through top players Toni Kroos and Vinicius Junior, Los Blancos found a way despite Jude Bellingham feeling under the weather, and they will like their chances of making it to the final since the second leg is at the Santiago Bernabeu.
At the same time, this could have been a better game from the perspective of Carlo Ancelotti and the Real Madrid supporters. A number of players disappointed to some extent, but nobody fared worse than Lucas Vazquez.
Before the match, Vazquez was underlined as a key player for Real Madrid, because the backup would be starting at right back due to Dani Carvajal’s two yellow cards in the quarterfinals and subsequent suspension.
After a heroic showing in El Clasico, Real Madrid fans were confident that the best version of Lucas Vazquez would show up against Bayern Munich, as he tends to play out of his skin for his childhood club in the big games.
Instead, Vazquez struggled, surrendering a cheap penalty to Jamal Musiala that Harry Kane then unsurprisingly dispatched to give Bayern Munich a 2-1 lead.
Vazquez was woeful all night long. He created literally nothing on the attacking end and was a foul machine defensively, uselessly hacking at air as elite attackers Jamal Musiala and Leroy Sane carved him up.
That’s the thing about Vazquez. He looks great when he is at his best, but against elite dribblers like Sane and Musiala who think on a different level with their football IQ, Vazquez’s weaknesses begin to show.
He isn’t a true right back, and the smartest forwards in the game can take full advantage, unbalancing him and leaving the veteran Galician to chase shadows.
That was indeed the case for the Real Madrid icon on Tuesday night at the Allianz Arena, and his defensive lapses played a key role in the Merengues failing to take a lead with them to the Bernabeu.