Real Madrid: 5 takeaways from Los Blancos’ brilliant 5-0 win at Shakhtar

Real Madrid’s midfield is back in form at the perfect time

This is what I wanted to see! I haven’t seen a performance this dominant from Real Madrid’s midfield since last season. Luka Modric, again, proves to us that he’s not human. The man is doing all this at the age of 36, it just seems unreal. He had an amazing assist as I talked about in previous slides. Beautiful.

I don’t remember seeing Modric get dispossessed even once, because each time he just managed to find a way to get out of the press or through the opponents. It was great to watch. He ended with three key passes, four shot-creating actions, one goal creating action, and nearly 96% passing accuracy on 70 passes.

As for his partner in crime, Toni Kroos, this game felt more like a return from injury for the German, than the one against Espanyol. Toni Kroos looked like his usual self, and that’s just what Real Madrid needed to go from good to great. It’s exceptional how simple Kroos’ moves look on the eye, but not many people realise how hard it is to do it consistently like he does, which makes him one of the best players in the world.

For Casemiro, it finally looked like a return to form.  He has definitely been struggling a lot this season, and most of it had to do with a lack of rest, a lot of responsibility and a limited skillset that he didn’t use to its full potential. In this game, he changed all of that. This was the Casemiro we’re all used to. Six tackles, four interceptions, 25 presses, one block, and just good vibes all around. He didn’t take many shots either, which is always a plus. Was it a coincidence that Casemiro had the best game when he was playing with Modric and Kroos sitting in front of him? I don’t think so.