The miracle of Luka Modric

BarcelonaLuka Modric (September 9, 1985, Zadar, Croatia) is not remembered for his bad performance on the pitch. At the age of 36, the Croatian midfielder who had Barça posters in his room but who would end up signing for Real Madrid a decade ago is still the engine of the white team. Modric is barely injured and barely rotated. In fact, he himself has argued on more than one occasion that what he needs to be fit is to play and that his date of birth is not taken into account. This season, the white player has just been a substitute in three league games, one in the Champions League and one in the Cup. Seven have been lost due to injury, two due to coronavirus. In the other matches he has been a key pillar, and will be the starter this Sunday in the classic against Barça.

Modric enjoys the elixir of youth, despite being 36 years old. From their environment they say that this is due to a nutritional and training discipline that complies without exception. “He is ultra-competitive. This means that he always seeks to do his best. He takes care of his diet, does not skimp on rest hours and always trains to the fullest,” said a source familiar with the Croatian midfielder’s day-to-day life. Well, he is often one of the last to leave Valdebebas, the sports city of Real Madrid. During the pandemic halt, he was one of the most fit players in the competition. “There is no mystery. He is passionate about football. He is a great professional. He has always been very careful”, they defend from the player’s environment. “It changed Modric’s life a lot in 2018, when he won the Champions League and reached the World Cup final. While many veteran players might have thought that maybe it was time to slow down, he wanted to be in the next The European Championship and the next World Cup. All this added to the fact that he is happy in Madrid and that he feels very important in the team “, explains Antón Meana, a journalist from the SER who follows the white club’s daily life.

A decisive contribution

Despite being a footballer who stands out for his game with the ball at his feet (the last five seasons in the league have never dropped below 85% accuracy in the passes he distributes, according to Statsboom data), Modric is not one of those ‘erase in defensive efforts. According to the Champions League, a competition with matches that are often more physically demanding than those in the Spanish league, the Croatian travels an average of almost 9 km per match. In the overall calculation of the white team in the League, according to data provided by the same competition, Madrid is the team of the entire championship with the most success in the last in the last third of the game, exceeding 86% effectiveness . In this scenario, Modric is decisive. His contribution to the game is vital to the white team. The Croatian is among the ten players who have played the most minutes this season with Madrid, while last season he was the fourth most used player by Zidane, only behind Courtois, Casemiro and Benzema.

As for the five major leagues in Europe, Modric is the midfielder with 36 years or more that more minutes (2,827) has played this year, counting the 33 games he has played with Real Madrid and 4 with the selection of Croatia. If the list is extended to field players, it is surpassed only by Lille center-back José Fonte (38), Chelsea defender Thiago Silva (37), United striker Cristiano Ronaldo (37), the center-forward Inter Edin Dzeko (36), Villarreal midfielder Raúl Albiol (36) and Llille striker Burak Yilmaz (37). All are either area or central forwards, unlike the winner of the Golden Ball in 2018, the only footballer to have won a place in this award after the hegemonic rivalry for the trophy between Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo that began in 2008.

At the age of 37 (he will make them in September), Modric is the leader of Real Madrid’s midfield. At his age, Andrés Iniesta was already a player of the Japanese Kobe Vissel and Xavi Hernández sealed his career as a footballer at Al-Sadd in Doha, Qatar. “For me, the best of the three is Iniesta, but Modric will go down in history as the one who extended his career to the elite the most,” said Meana.

Barça’s interest

Before arriving in Madrid from Tottenham for 35 million euros, the Croatian midfielder had also been in Barça’s orbit. Consulted by ARA, a senior leader at the time defended that, in the summer of 2012, Barça already had “a formidable midfield”. Implying, then, that there was a plug. “There were Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Cesc, Thiago … Nobody dared then accept the challenge of signing for us,” he recalls. That summer, Barça signed Alex Song.

Now Modric renews every year with Madrid. The white team does so with the most veteran players. A deal, for example, that Sergi Ramos did not want. The Croatian, on the other hand, has not caused much inconvenience, according to those around him. “He has a good relationship with Florentino. The rope tightened in the summer of 2018, when he tried to leave for Inter for free. This angered the president, who argued that either the 750 million clause was paid or “Modric didn’t want to go anywhere, but he agreed to stay in Madrid,” said Meana. The white club smiles at the Croatian. But Barça can get away with their future midfielders: Pedri, Gavi, Nico and Frenkie de Jong.