Real Madrid: Ranking the top 5 players for the month of March

3. Luka Modric

Forget about his age for a moment, and compare his performances with other midfielders of Europe. You would still rank him in the category of the best midfielders. Such has been the level of Luka Modric’s performances. People generally stress the ’35-year-old’ tag before his name, maybe to show that Modric’s performances have been better than their expectations, but Luka Modric doesn’t need his age to show his worth.

He is slower than his version of his that won a Ballon D’Or, but he has made the best use of his body despite the physical limitations. His work-rate has been superb, and he has been the engine of this midfield. He has been the complete midfielder any team would want and keeps doing everything a midfielder born out of the textbook can do, for the whole 90 minutes. And above all, he will keep working hard to maintain his fitness levels and play continuously week in week out.

This completeness of Luka Modric has been very useful, especially considering the constant injuries and thin midfield. The game against Atalanta is enough to explain the value he brings to the team. In the absence of Casemiro, he acted as the deepest midfielder, positioning himself before the back three. There he acted like the ball winner for the team, who also took up the task of distributing the ball and bringing the ball out of pressure.

Two minutes later, you would see him leading the press from the forward line, and one such sequence led to Benzema’s goal. He positioned himself well, latched onto the keeper’s wrong pass, and then assisted an open Benzema while he was through on goal. This is enough to show how complete Luka Modric is.

Every game of his has been a great one in March, and against Elche, it seemed as if the team lacks direction in the absence of Modric and Kroos. It wasn’t until his arrival on the pitch that the team understood how to attack. And the output was immediate, as Modric went on to assist Benzema just minutes after coming on.

Another point to talk about is Modric’s elite mentality. How many players have the same spirit and desire to keep training at such great intensity and look to play 270 minutes of football within seven days while aiming for every trophy out there, after winning a lot in their career and at the age of 35? I don’t see many.