Real Madrid: 5 burning questions after 3-1 win over Athletic Club

Is Lucas Vazquez locked in as the starter?

Marco Asensio made a positive action off the bench with a short corner that led to Dani Carvajal’s cross for Karim Benzema and Real Madrid’s deadlock-breaking second. But Lucas Vazquez drew the start for Real and was decent again.

This wasn’t one of Vazquez’s strongest performances, in comparison to what he’s done on his recent run in the starting lineup, but he did have two key passes, per WhoScored.com, with his usual hard work in defense.

Vazquez has impressed Madridistas with his heart and efficacy in the last couple of weeks. He was great at right back in the attack and held his own defensively, though there were the expected hiccups with his positioning and general know-how of the position.

Right now, though, Vazquez is operating as the starting right winger ahead of Asensio with Dani Carvajal back from his injury. Asensio is the more talented player and offers more scoring upside, but Vazquez is just flat-out playing better football than Asensio right now.

Even in this game, Vazquez could have easily had an assist with a better finish from Benzema early in the match. He is (mostly) making all the right moves, and I think the onus is on Asensio to prove himself again to Zidane.