David Alaba has already displayed his quality in an Austria shirt at Euro 2020, as he was named man of the match after his country’s 3-1 win against North Macedonia on Sunday evening.
The new Real Madrid signing played all of the warm-up friendlies in midfield, but Austria boss Franco Foda shifted him back to centre-back and he responded by putting in an excellent display.
“I’m a tactically flexible player who can play in various positions and I’m happy with my performance. I played at centre-back and tried to get the ball out wide,” Alaba said at the end of the game, with the man of the match trophy under his arm.
Alaba was excellent with the ball at his feet and led his Austria team with a passing success rate of 90 percent, as he completed 95 passes out of 105. Although he began the game at centre-back, Austria‘s dominance led to him getting further up the pitch.
It was not just his work on the ball that was impressive, though. Alaba ran more than 10 kilometres and won all seven of his aerial duels in what was a very complete performance by the 28-year-old.
Real Madrid are delighted to have secured Alaba‘s signature, and they have the same confidence that he will succeed that they had when they brought Toni Kroos to the club for 25 million euros from Bayern Munich in 2014.
Alaba joins on a free, but as a result he has been handed a lucrative contract that will see him earn more than Kroos, for instance. Real Madrid beat half of Europe to sign Alaba, even though their contract offer was not as high as some of the other proposals the Austrian had on the table.
Man of the match
UEFA did not hesitate in giving Alaba the man of the match award on Sunday evening, as he played a pivotal role in Austria‘s 3-1 win against North Macedonia. It was from his boots that Michael Gregoritsch was able to score, too.
The truth is that Real Madrid are celebrating the fact that Alaba is shining at Euro 2020 and making everyone aware that he is one of the world’s most talented players. A three-in-one player who can play at centre-back, left-back and central midfield, he will be some asset for Carlo Ancelotti.
The idea is for Alaba to play at centre-back at Real Madrid, particularly given the uncertainty with both Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane, but it’s not out of the question that he could also feature in midfield.
