Real Madrid received a new blow before facing Manchester City in the 2025 Champions League Round of 16 play-off.
According to Spanish media, Lucas Vazquez was injured during his participation in the Atletico Madrid match on Saturday in La Liga.
Due to this injury, Vazquez will be absent from Real Madrid for a period ranging between two and three weeks.
In this way, Vazquez, 32, was confirmed to be absent from the first leg of the play-off against City, scheduled for next Tuesday at the Etihad Stadium.
It is most likely that Real Madrid’s second captain will not make it to the second leg, scheduled for Wednesday, February 19.
There is no alternative to Vazquez in the right-back position, which will force coach Carlo Ancelotti to come up with a new solution to fill this gap.
Ancelotti is expected to resort to relying on Fede Valverde at right-back, or in the worst case, Raul Asensio, although the latter option seems difficult due to the lack of central defenders at the moment in the Merengue.
Thus, Vazquez will join the list of Real’s absences, which includes Eder Militao, Antonio Rudiger, Dani Carvajal and David Alaba.
