Real Madrid: Three takeaways from the gutsy win over Inter Milan
By Ben Sundock
Overuse is catching up to Casemiro
Casemiro is a world-class defensive midfield and there is little doubt about that. However, the reliable CDM has not been himself early on this year and the cause can be traced back to the amount of matches and minutes he played over the last several months.
Matt Wiltse of Managing Madrid accurately sums this up, saying:
"“Yes, there was the lockdown which provided a break, but Casemiro played 4,081 minutes for Madrid last season, a total of 46 games – by far the most in his career. He’s already played 740 minutes this season with no real preseason.”"
The statistical trend has shown when Casemiro plays north of 3,500 minutes in a season, there is a significant decline in form the following campaign. As a reference, look at his stats during the 2017/2018 season compared to 2018/2019.
The number 14 has been decent helping on defense (I’m being generous here) but has been a detriment to the team moving forward and has struggled to pass the ball through the midfield effectively.
Next. 5 burning questions after 3-2 win over Inter Milan. dark
With another international break coming after this weekend’s match with Valencia, Casemiro could be do some time on the bench to rest. Real has the midfield talent to cover for him (though they don’t have a like-for-like replacement at CDM) so he could get some time off in an effort to return to former self.