Real Madrid center back Eder Miltiao played out of his mind at the end of the 2020-2021 season when Los Blancos needed him the most. The young center back started alongside Nacho Fernandez when both Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos were injured. For that period of time in which he started, he was Real’s best center back of the season. And that’s saying something, given that Varane was solid, Nacho was fabulous, and Ramos was outright outrageous in the opening months of the campaign.
Madridistas were hopeful that Militao would build on his performances for the 2021-2022 season, with both Varane and Ramos moving to different elite European clubs.
He has done exactly that.
Here are three reasons why Eder Militao is the latest Real Madrid player to assert himself as untouchable in the lineup and on the transfer market.
Eder Militao actively cleans up danger
With Raphael Varane now at Manchester United – and as good as ever, I might add – it became crucial for Eder Militao to fill one of the many roles vacated by the Frenchman. So often, Varane was there to mop up loose balls or dangerous through passes that got behind the other defenders. It would even lead to him being scapegoated, because he would often be the only player in the vicinity of a breakaway attack.
Militao has been fantastic at getting to passes that other defenders can’t quite cut out. Last weekend against Valencia, Miltiao made a couple of interventions when David Alaba failed to clear properly. He also had a great play in which he stuck out his arm to prevent a Valencia attacker from having a clean strike at Thibaut Courtois’ goal.
The Brazilian central defender is active, alert, and assured defensively. He makes sure Real don’t fluff things up, and that allows Alaba to be more aggressive in his contributions to the team’s build-up play.