Real Madrid: The 5 biggest surprises of the 2020-2021 season

Eder Militao is lights-out at a center back

A lot of Real Madrid fans came into the season as supporters of Eder Militao. Not only was he a great player at FC Porto who impressed enough to convince Real to spend 50 million euros on him in 2019, but he also had a couple of stellar performances in 2019-2020 during the brief times he got a chance. And no match was more impressive than his display in a clean sheet victory over Athletic Bilbao at San Mames.

Militao had some rough moments to start the season, but when Real Madrid needed him the most, he stepped up to a whole new level that we had never seen before in his career in Madrid or Porto. He was legitimately world-class, outplaying every other center back in the league over the last couple of months of the season.

It all started when Sergio Ramos was out injured and Raphael Varane tested positive for COVID-19 before the first leg vs. Liverpool. Militao played well in both legs and was shutdown in LaLiga. He even made important offensive contributions in the league, including in a tough 2-0 win over Osasuna during the home stretch of the title race.

Militao just might be Real’s best center back, and his emergence at the end of 2020-2021 has made Madridistas a little less stressed out about the prospect of losing established superstars Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane this summer.