What a player and what a performance! With a man-of-the-match performance and a rating of 8.0, Luka Jovic has finally shown the world why he is at Real Madrid and it is just beautiful. The young Serbian has been out of favor ever since he joined Los Blancos. Real Madrid bought Luka Jovic from Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019 for a fee of €60 Million, but the Madridistas never really got to see the striker play much.
Karim Benzema was (and still is) in a world-class form with only a few strikers able to match him when Real Madrid signed Luka Jovic. At that time, Zinedine Zidane was the manager and Real Madrid would play in a 4-3-3 formation meaning that only one of Karim Benzema or Luka Jovic could play at a time.
With Eden Hazard still struggling for fitness and Gareth Bale out with injury, Real Madrid was only left with Karim Benzema as the player to trust. So, it wasn’t easy for Zinedine Zidane to give Luka Jovic the minutes he needed to develop. After a whole season full of ups and downs, Zidane did ultimately opt for a plan that could accommodate both the Serbian and the Frenchman together. The plan was implemented at the start of the 2020-21 season, but it didn’t pan out the way Zizou expected. The problem wasn’t only with the chemistry between two strikers, but also with the midfielders.
Practically, a 4-4-2 or a 4-1-2-1-2 are the only formations that could see Luka Jovic and Benzema play together. But it was very problematic, especially with the midfield trio of Luka Modric, Carlos Casemiro, and Toni Kroos unable to adapt to the change in the tactics and the playing style. So, after the first few matches, it was pretty clear that 4-3-3 was the most suitable formation for Los Blancos.
Luka Jovic always had what it takes to play for Real Madrid, but he never got a real chance to prove it. The appointment of Carlo Ancelotti was supposed to be the last shot for the Serbian to be at the club and a highly motivated Luka Jovic has finally shown us he is here to stay.
Luka Jovic has What It Takes
The performance against Real Sociedad was fantastic. After being subbed on around the 20th-minute mark, Luka Jovic was invisible for much of the first half. Probably Luka Jovic was just hoping for the whistle so that he can get Carlo Ancelotti’s instructions on how to play the second half. And what we all saw in the second half was a typical poacher performance. He combined well with his teammates and especially with Vinicius Junior- who I believe will be key in the Serbian’s success at the club.
Luka Jovic did have some areas to improve upon when Carlo Ancelotti used to call him in the last few minutes in crucial games, and I believe he has improved most of these issues. The young Serbian is physically strong and has overcome any fear he might have while fighting for the ball with the opposition’s backline and that is what he showed us all against La Real. He dove just to meet Casemiro’s ball to get it past Alex Remiro easily and get his first goal of the season.
Apart from this, he knows how to hold the defenders and protect the ball. He set up Vinicius Junior with a brilliant pass to get the breakthrough and look the way he held the opposition. He attracted the defenders to him before laying it to Vinicius, who had just the goalkeeper to beat with his shot.
A hidden quality which the Madridistas could not witness is the power he has in his shots. Back from his days in the German club, many have seen the number 16 surprising the goalkeepers with the lightning speed he shoots. It was Real Sociedad’s compact defense that did not offer many opportunities to Luka Jovic to shoot, but I hope that he will sooner or later show the world that capability too.
To conclude, I would like to put some light on some areas he can still improve. As many of you would have noticed, Luka Jovic did not press the way Karim Benzema used to. The effort to help his team defensively just wasn’t there. Other than that, he should also drop back at times and combine with his fellow mates to rotate the ball and put pressure on the opposition.
With Karim Benzema suffering an injury, I think it is a one-time opportunity for Luka Jovic who would be looking forward to cashing in on the opportunity and proving his worth to the club.
Nevertheless, the Serbian is a great prospect for the future and some similar performances as the one against La Real can see him succeeding at the club and transforming into a world-class striker like Karim Benzema.