England head coach Thomas Tuchel made the journey to Madrid on his latest World Cup reconnaissance mission and was richly rewarded by a thrilling Champions League tie between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Tuchel’s eyes were trained on Real Madrid pair Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jude Bellingham, as well as captain Harry Kane in his role as Bayern’s prime goalscorer.
He will have left with suspicions confirmed about Alexander-Arnold, as well as concrete evidence from Bellingham and Kane that they are surely indispensable when England’s World Cup campaign kicks off against Croatia in Arlington on 17 June.
Champions League nights at the Bernabeu are always special occasions, with supporters swarming around the magnificent arena hours before kick-off and thousands of fans clad in white gathering on Plaze de los Sagrados Corazones to welcome Real Madrid’s team bus.
To add to the drama, a warm Madrid afternoon suddenly turned to blackened skies and a deluge to set a spectacular stage for this meeting of European heavyweights.
As a classic unfolded – which Bayern deservedly won 2-1 – the game held contrasting fortunes for those Tuchel had under his microscope.
Alexander-Arnold is perhaps the most intriguing case study of the trio Tuchel was scrutinising, lavishly gifted and playing at the club most regard as the world’s biggest, and yet seemingly with no part to play in England’s summer strategy.
The 27-year-old, who moved from Liverpool last summer, has had a rocky introduction to life at Real and also suffered the ignominy of being left out of Tuchel’s 35-man England squad for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.
And then, if that was not painful enough, when Tuchel called on replacements, he ignored Alexander-Arnold in favour of Ben White, not a regular at Arsenal this season and someone who had gone into self-imposed exile after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
For Alexander-Arnold to change Tuchel’s mind at this late stage will not be easy, and his mixed display here may have confirmed misgivings about him rather than enhanced his prospects.
In a poor first half display, Alexander-Arnold not only wasted possession far too often, but also almost gifted Bayern a goal with a pass straight to Michael Olise. He was then caught napping by former Liverpool team-mate Luis Diaz as the forward put Bayern in front.
Tuchel has voiced his concerns about Alexander-Arnold’s defending and this was it in full view. And yet he then showed why he has admirers who find his exclusion from Tuchel’s plans puzzling.
As Real finally woke up with Bayern leading 2-0, it was Alexander-Arnold who delivered a series of dangerous set-pieces before firing in an inviting low cross for Kylian Mbappe to pull a goal back.
This was Alexander-Arnold in microcosm, and was not the sort of performance to have Tuchel shuffling the names already formed in his mind for World Cup selection.
The inconsistent nature of his performance is confirmed by his pass completion rate of 69.2%, the lowest of anyone in the match.
