Alaba meets her past

Already signed by Madrid at zero cost, Alaba gave a real lesson in the last European Championship on how versatile he can be on the pitch. In just a handful of games he played as a sweeper, center back, midfielder and even inside, alternating positions even in the course of the same game… Such waste of virtues caught the attention of the specialized press. “For a long time I played as a left-back at Bayern; more recently I played as a central defender, before that I played in midfield from time to time. What does ‘favorite position’ mean? I’m happy to play where I can help the team the most.” , Alaba summed up, downplaying importance

Against Athletic, in the quarterfinals of the Cup, Alaba returns to his origins at Bayern Munich, where he developed mainly as a left back. Without Marcelo, sanctioned for the red card he saw against Elche and his subsequent comment to referee Figueroa Vázquez (three games have dropped), nor Mendy (injured, even the game against PSG is in danger), Alaba will play safely in that side, with Vinicius ahead.

To date there have been three games that Alaba has been able to play on the left side with Real Madrid, where he has not particularly shone. They were the first two of the season. He debuted against Alaves with white victory 1-4. And he gave a magnificent assist to Vinicius so that the Brazilian scored with a header. In the next game, against I raised, it didn’t go so well. Madrid tied 3-3 and the Austrian had a dismal performance… He even missed one of the goals against. The third precedent, also in the League, was even worse. Madrid lost to Spanish. Three side games, one win, one draw and one loss.

Although Alaba reached the elite playing on the left side with Bayern, little by little he tended to the central position. In his last campaign in Bavaria he did not play any of his 45 games on the side. But yes ten of them in the center of the field, either as an interior or even as a midfielder. However, he has completed campaigns playing entirely on the left side, more recently with Süle and Hummels as central defenders and before them with Badstuber and Boateng… Now, with Madrid, circumstances have returned him to his beginnings.