Trent Alexander-Arnold, currently outside the England squad, experienced a night of contrasting fortunes for Real Madrid against Bayern Munich.
England manager Thomas Tuchel’s presence in Madrid, ostensibly for World Cup scouting, was rewarded with a compelling Champions League encounter between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Tuchel’s focus centered on Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jude Bellingham, alongside Bayern’s key striker, Harry Kane.
He likely departed with strengthened views on Alexander-Arnold, while Bellingham and Kane offered further evidence of their potential indispensability for England’s World Cup opener against Croatia in Arlington on June 17.
Champions League nights at the Bernabeu are renowned, with supporters gathering hours before kickoff and thousands of fans in white congregating at Plaze de los Sagrados Corazones to greet the Real Madrid team bus.
Adding to the atmosphere, a warm Madrid afternoon gave way to dark skies and heavy rain, setting the stage for a dramatic clash between European powerhouses.
As the match unfolded, Tuchel’s scrutinized players experienced varying degrees of success.
Alexander-Arnold, a gifted player at a globally recognized club, presents an intriguing case, seemingly excluded from England’s summer plans.
The 27-year-old, who joined from Liverpool last summer, has faced challenges at Real and was notably absent from Tuchel’s 35-man England squad for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.
Further compounding matters, Tuchel opted for Ben White, a non-regular at Arsenal who had previously taken a self-imposed break after the 2022 World Cup, as a replacement, overlooking Alexander-Arnold.
Convincing Tuchel at this stage will be difficult for Alexander-Arnold, and his mixed performance may have reinforced existing reservations rather than improving his chances.
In a lackluster first half, Alexander-Arnold frequently lost possession and nearly gifted Bayern a goal with a pass to Michael Olise. He was later caught out by former Liverpool teammate Luis Diaz, who put Bayern ahead.
Tuchel’s concerns about Alexander-Arnold’s defending were evident. However, he subsequently demonstrated why some find his exclusion from Tuchel’s plans perplexing.
As Real rallied with Bayern leading 2-0, Alexander-Arnold delivered a series of dangerous set-pieces before providing a low cross for Kylian Mbappe to score.
This performance, a microcosm of Alexander-Arnold’s game, likely did not alter Tuchel’s World Cup selection thoughts.
His inconsistent display is highlighted by a pass completion rate of 69.2%, the lowest in the match.
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Bellingham started on the bench for an hour as he recovers from a hamstring injury but, with unrest growing inside the Bernabeu and Real fans likely to be thinking of reaching for the white handkerchiefs in their standard gesture of disapproval, he emerged.
In a chaotic last 30 minutes, he drove Real forward with trademark surging runs as he single-handedly altered the tempo of their game.
Bellingham is another hot topic for Tuchel, who has shown he is not afraid of dropping big names and that places – even in his squad, not just the starting XI – are earned on form.
There is a genuine competition for England’s number 10 spot between Bellingham and several other candidates led by Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, with Cole Palmer and Eberechi Eze further alternatives.
However, this influential cameo demonstrated why the temptation to start the World Cup with Bellingham may be impossible for Tuchel to resist.
Any concern for Kane only centres on his fitness, not his world-class quality and importance as England’s record goalscorer with 78 goals in 112 appearances.
England looked toothless without him against Uruguay and Japan and when he also missed Bayern’s game over the weekend, fears grew over a more serious issue than had been diagnosed.
However Kane made Bayern’s starting line-up, to huge cheers from their thousands of travelling fans when his name was read out, but – as he often does after an absence – looked sluggish in a frenetic first 45 minutes.
Then in one moment seconds after half-time, Kane showed why England’s hopes for World Cup success will be vastly reduced if he was missing.
He picked up a pass 20 yards out before delivering a perfect low drive into the bottom corner, leaving Real goalkeeper Andriy Lunin with no chance.
“All the hype around it, coming to Madrid and trying to get a result, is always a difficult thing to do,” he said after the game.
“We had some good chances, credit to them they did too. We’re in the business end of the season now. We always feel dangerous – we always feel like we can score goals for sure.”
And Kane, for Bayern and England, also feels he can always score goals.
Tuchel would no doubt have smiled in satisfaction as this latest example of the elite striker he has at his disposal – and how life without him is impossible to contemplate.
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