LUCAS OCAMPOS - A PLAYER WHOSE COMMITMENT KNOWS NO BOUNDS

After the victory at Vallecas, Lucas Ocampos said that he is ready to play in any position. These were certainly not empty words, who, in nearly 200 official appearances for the club, has played practically all over the pitch. This versatility has also been seen in this current season, in which he has moved out to the right flank rather than his usual position on the left. Furthermore, during the absence of Youssef En-Nesyri in the last month, he has also played as a striker, forming a partnership with Isaac Romero. The Argentine is always willing to do whatever the team requires. 

On Monday night, Ocampos started on the left flank as Marcos Acuña was deployed as a third central defender. Later, after the introduction of Diego Hormigo and Adrià Pedrosa, he moved over to the right wing and was only a lick of paint away from scoring our third when his shot across goal came back off the post. Looking further back, the statistics show that Ocampos has in fact played in almost every position since arriving at the club. He even played as goalkeeper in that memorable match against Eibar after an outfield player had no choice but to take the gloves when Vaclík's injury forced him off with all our substitutions already used. To make this ending to the game even more extraordinary, Ocampos proceeded to save a late effort from our now-goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic, who had come up for a corner in a last-gasp attempt to level the scores. 

The following season, he also played as a right-back in a Champions League match against Krasnodar after Jesús Navas was sent off before half-time. Looking elsewhere, the only position that Ocampos is yet to play is centre-back; he has already played as a goalkeeper, in both full-back and wing-back positions, as well as up front. He also played as an attacking midfielder in last season's home match against UD Almería under Jorge Sampaoli. Ocampos' readiness to adapt is always due to his desire to help the team, an attitude that has helped him rise to third in the list of our current highest appearance-makers after the recent departure of Ivan Rakitic. With Navas a long way ahead of the rest, Joan Jordán has 194 appearances, one less than Ocampos, the Argentine finishing the match as captain and duly moving one game higher than Óliver Torres in the list.