The winger on taking penalties, learning English and his journey from a tiny town to winning three Champions League titles
“It’s a strange feeling,” Lucas Vázquez says. “We’re used to competing, training, travelling, being together every day: 30 people, all the time. And then, overnight, you’re on your own.” On 12 March the Real Madrid basketball player Trey Thompkins tested positive for Covid-19. The football team had just turned up, but they did not head on to the field that morning. Instead, the club’s Valdebebas HQ was closed and they were sent home.
Seven weeks later, they are still there. Like everyone in Spain, they are in lockdown and Vázquez’s hair is longer than it has been for ages. For weeks no one has been out except to walk the dog. “By the third day the dog’s saying: ‘I need a day off,’” the Madrid winger says with a laugh. Next came the kids, released last weekend. And finally, this weekend, adults will get out. It is only an hour but it is something. Testing of players begins this week, a gradual return to training the week after. That, at least, is the plan.
Written by Sid Lowe in Madrid
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/may/03/real-madrid-lucas-vazquez-interview under the title “
“. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
