Real Madrid: Ranking the top 5 players of February 2021

4. DM Casemiro

Earlier this season, there was concern that Real Madrid defensive midfielder Casemiro had hit a wall due to the sheer number of minutes he played in the 2019-2020 season as one of the best overall players in La Liga. He was undroppable for Los Merengues, who simply did not have another defensive midfielder in the squad.

In 2020-2021, it has been the same story for Real, as they were unable to make any signings the previous summer. Casemiro has been shouldering the load wonderfully again, though, and his clutch goals have been another important story of the season thus far.

The 29-year-old provided another one of those goals in the 1-0 win over Real Valladolid, atoning for an earlier set-piece miss. Casemiro had 25 combined tackles and interceptions in five February fixtures, meaning he averaged exactly five defensive involvements per game.

Once again, Casemiro is making it abundantly clear to football fans that there isn’t a better defensive midfielder in the world. The goals are the icing on the cake, as Casemiro is now second on the team with five goals in the league after that all-important header at Valladolid. It’s great to see how many Madridistas are singing his praises, as he should not be overlooked just because he plays a position that often gets fewer plaudits in the media.