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Trent Alexander-Arnold faced sharp criticism from Roy Keane following his performance in Real Madrid's loss to Bayern Munich on Tuesday evening.
Los Blancos fell 2–1 to the German giants at the Bernabéu in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, with Álvaro Arbeloa's squad failing to keep the visitors' attack at bay.
Luis Díaz netted Bayern's opener late in an electric first half, before Harry Kane doubled the lead just moments after the interval. Madrid—who registered 21 shots on the night—generated plenty of opportunities themselves and kept their hopes alive ahead of the return leg in Munich, with Kylian Mbappé finding the net on 74 minutes.
While there is still hope heading into next Wednesday's second leg, Madrid's defensive performance will need significant improvement, as the hosts were somewhat fortunate to have conceded only twice on the night.
Keane: Same Old Story With Alexander-Arnold
Perhaps most concerning was the right back's pass completion rate of just 69.2%, the lowest of any player on the pitch that night.
Despite delivering a notable assist for Mbappé's potentially crucial goal, the 27-year-old's display drew criticism from former Manchester United skipper Keane, who was serving as an analyst for CBS.
A consistent and outspoken critic of Alexander-Arnold's defensive weaknesses, Keane singled out the right back for his role in Bayern's opener, where Díaz was allowed to slip in behind the defensive line to score.
Keane told CBS: "Listen, I've had enough. It's the same narrative in every major match. Everyone keeps talking about how well he passes, but what about the fundamentals? Defending.
"At this level, in the Champions League, you simply cannot let things slide like that."
"These are naive errors. Letting Luis Díaz waltz past you as though you weren't even there? That's unacceptable! It's as though he's never played right back before."
The Manchester United icon concluded: "Big occasions demand solid defenders, and right now he is nowhere near that standard."
Keane was not alone in highlighting Alexander-Arnold's struggles, with L'Equipe—a publication renowned for its strict player ratings—giving the former Liverpool man a lowly four out of ten for his performance.
That was, however, marginally better than left-back Álvaro Carreras, whose particularly difficult evening against Michael Olise earned him a rating of just two.
Alexander-Arnold Fails to Assuage Doubts Under the Eyes of Thomas Tuchel
England head coach Thomas Tuchel was present at the Bernabéu for Tuesday's high-profile fixture to monitor the likes of Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, and Alexander-Arnold ahead of this summer's World Cup.
While Kane and Bellingham remain key figures in Tuchel's plans, Alexander-Arnold has struggled to cement his place in the national team setup and was omitted from the 35-man squad for the recent friendlies against Uruguay and Japan—the last warm-up games before the World Cup.
Commenting on Alexander-Arnold's exclusion last month, Tuchel said: "He's on the long list and everyone is still in contention, but at this moment, certain other players are simply ahead of him."
On Tuesday, Tuchel witnessed a familiar tale of two halves from Alexander-Arnold, who produced a sublime second-half assist for Mbappé and continued to pose a threat from set pieces, yet struggled to contain his former Liverpool teammate Díaz.
Last month, Tuchel indicated he would attend some Real Madrid games to "get my last impressions" on Alexander-Arnold before finalising his squad ahead of June.
Tuesday's defeat seems unlikely to have done much to strengthen the player's case in the manager's eyes.