99 days of Calvary

It was a hard, painful tackle by Busquets, looking for the ball, but he found Lucas Vázquez's leg. The force of the blow made the Galician player stay lying on the grass in a Classic that favored the whites: he himself had assisted Benzema to score from the heel. There were barely minutes left for the end of the first part. After being treated in the band, Lucas tried to return to the game. Nothing. The minute he entered he had to throw himself to the ground, near the goal defended by Ter Stegen. After being examined in the locker room, the news that came out did not indicate a serious injury. After 24 hours, the reality of the action was known: the Galician suffered a posterior cruciate ligament sprain in his left knee.

The season was ending for him. But he showed his willpower: “I have to help the team from the outside for a while. Touched … but never sunk. If this club has taught me something, it is to always work and fight. From now on giving everything to return as soon as possible and help the team in the final stage. Thank you all very much for your messages. A single objective: to continue fighting for LaLiga and the Champions League. Go Madrid”.

This injury came at the worst possible moment. Both for the player and for Zidane, who had discovered in the Galician a spectacular replacement to Carvajal, injured since last February. For the player, in addition, the situation worsened when he had to negotiate his contract extension (land offers appeared from other greats in Europe, the case of the Parisian PSG, and Atlético de Madrid) and the possibility of being able to attend the recently concluded Eurocup was fading.

At first, the injury did not seem serious and did not require surgery, but it was difficult to get off the month and a half, just what was left of the season then, and as has been proven. Even so, Lucas started a race against time to try to get to play something in the last games of the season, but he didn't have time. Once made up by the idea that the campaign was over for him, his determination led him to prepare for the future. While recovering, he and the club reached an agreement to extend his contract until 2024, three more seasons: his salary becomes five million net minus 10% to help the club. During his vacations he was crushing himself to get in tune with the preseason. The shadow of Pintus is very very elongated. But it has reached a very good level. After playing a few minutes against Fuenlabrada, on Sunday he started again against Rayo Vallecano. He hadn't done it since that injury. 99 days have passed since then. Today, his ordeal has faded …