The Real Champs 2020 Awards For Real Madrid Players
By Parshva Shah
Breakout Star: Fede Valverde
2020 was a fantastic year for the Uruguayan as he established himself as one of the key figures of the Real Madrid XI. In fact, he was probably one of the first names in the team sheet. His box-to-box ability gave the team the much-needed pizzazz in midfield as Luka Modrić was kind off struggling to win back a place in the team, although he wasn’t very bad.
That pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it? Valverde kept someone like Modrić on the sidelines. Such was the quality on show by the youngster that he was almost indispensable. Yes, when football returned after the pandemic in June, Valverde wasn’t at his best. But he has started the current season well, even upping the ante in the goalscoring department (he already has three league goals).
Fede Valverde is the future of Real Madrid’s midfield, and 2020 sets him up for an even more exciting 2021.
Most Improved: Lucas Vázquez
Lucas Vázquez has been simply phenomenal in the current season. He has started 16 games in a row now and he has made that right winger position his own. Not only has he flourished this season in the right winger role, dribbling effectively and plugging out menacing crosses, he has also become the second-choice right-back in the team. We saw in the final few months of 2020 that Vázquez isn’t a black hole defensively, not anymore.
If you told me in the beginning of 2020 that Lucas Vázquez would be starting every game by the end of this year, I would have doubted your ability to think. Vázquez’s performance levels had nosedived in the past few seasons and he was nowhere near the first team at the beginning of 2020. Rodrygo was ahead of him in the pecking order for the right winger’s role.
We all must give credit where its due. Vázquez used to get trolled so often, but now he is playing so well that he is actually keeping the more talented players limited to the bench, and that’s because he has improved in leaps and bounds. At this point, I would rather him start every game from here on. His work-rate was never in question, but it’s the leap he has taken offensively that has really helped him transcend his game to greater levels.