Vazquez bids farewell as 25th most capped player for Real Madrid

In the bitter 4-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup, Lucas Vazquez and Luka Modric bid farewell to Real Madrid. The Croatian already has a contract waiting for him in Milan, where he will wear the 'Rossonneri' shirt. His former team-mate, after ten uninterrupted seasons in white, moved into 25th place in the list of players with the most appearances in white in history.

Had Xabi Alonso not brought him on for the closing stages, he would not have made the 402nd appearance in his stat book and, therefore, would not have equalled Manuel Velazquez Villaverde, who now has to share his position in the table with the former Espanyol man. The full-back is just behind Dani Carvajal -428-, who continues in the Spanish side, Ignacio Zoco Esparza -434- and Cristiano Ronaldo -438-.

With them, the annexation of five that raises the initial ranking of 20 enough to know the impact of the Spanish defender. From there to step 11, there are Paco Buyo -456-, Emilio Butragueno -463-, Toni Kroos -465-, Amancio Amaro -469-, Chendo -499-, Roberto Carlos -527-, Guti -542-, Marcelo -546-, Pirri -561- and Michel -561-. They make up a stratum that the protagonist of these lines did not even come close to touching.

In the top 10, in reverse order, Jose Antonio Camacho -577-, Luka Modric -597-, Paco Gento -600-, Fernando Hierro -602-, Carlos Santillana -645-, Karim Benzema -648-, Sergio Ramos -671-, Manolo Sanchis -710-, Iker Casillas -725- and Raul Gonzalez -741-. Note how the highest active player in these figures, Carvajal, would need more than 300 games to reach the summit. It will be many years before this numerology changes hands.

Lucas could have added to his tally had it not been for his role as a club man. He has experienced seasons in which he has only taken the pitch 23 or 30 times, but the interpretation of these figures is qualitatively positive. It is the secondary profile, collaborative in terms of the cohesion of the dressing room and discreet, that has been useful for Carlo Ancelotti, Rafa Benitez, Zinedine Zidane, Julen Lopetegui, Santiago Solari and Xabi Alonso, six different coaches, when it was necessary to repair any problems due to injury or suspension. Hence, in fact, his conversion to full-back.