3 Real Madrid players who showed they deserve more respect after PSG win
By Parshva Shah
Luka Modric
Are there any words left to describe the genius of this 36-year old? Oh, wait, I made a typing mistake. He isn’t 36 years old. My bad. He is 26. What, he is not 26? He’s 36? Wow, I don’t believe you mate. He just can’t be 36. I mean look at the way he glided past almost half the PSG team in the lead-up to the 2nd goal. There’s absolutely no way on Earth that this man is 36.
My friend and fellow writer Sai Siddhartha wrote a piece on the amount of disrespect Luka Modrić gets. And it is absolutely ridiculous to see how a player of the stature of Modrić can be discredited for the magic he conjures on a football pitch week in, week out. To remind all the haters out there, Modrić broke the 10-year Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi Ballon d’Or duopoly when he won the individual trophy in 2018.
Modrić was absolutely outrageous in the second half. He was pulling the strings in the midfield as he got the freedom to play higher up the field with the introduction of Eduardo Camavinga. Karim Benzema’s second goal began with the Croatian intercepting a pass by Neymar, turning back in his own half, piercing through the PSG team as he glided through 5-6 players, and then threading a perfect through ball for Vini Jr. to chase. The Brazilian passed it back to Modrić, who received it on the edge of the box. He took a touch and then threaded a through ball that nutmegged Presnel Kimpembe to find Benzema in the box. Two touches for Benzema, followed by a shot, and boom. It’s 2-1.
Not just that, but his sliding challenge on Lionel Messi, where he was chasing the Argentinian as he was breaking on the counter, was an absolute delight to watch too. At an age when most footballers retire, Luka Modrić has shown he has still got that youthful zest inside him, the unremitting determination to help his team win.