While Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde might have gotten most of the plaudits after Real Madrid’s 3-1 win over Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first El Clasico of the season, Luka Modric also showed that he was as good as ever with his performance on the day. Perhaps the only reason why the Croatian did not grab more of the headlines is because people have run out of superlatives to describe him by now.
The Croatian has firmly established himself as one of the, if not the, greatest midfielders of his generation and even at 37 years of age, he continues to perform at a very high level.
While Barcelona might have come into the game as the league leaders, on goal difference, Modric and company showed that they still have some way to go before they can topple the defending champions in Real Madrid.
As reported by Mundo Deportivo, speaking after the game, Modric said about Real Madrid’s victory over Barcelona:
"“We knew that there was going to come a time in the match where we were going to have to suffer because they handled the ball well. There we had to give more than each other, defend strongly and suffer, and we did. We were very forceful up front and scored three goals. We have made a great match.”"
Modric explains how Real Madrid managed to get the better of Barcelona in 3-1 El Clasico win
While this was hyped up as a very close contest, in reality, it was not that close for the majority of the match.
Real Madrid were in control for the most part and took a 2-0 lead through Karim Benzema and Federico Valverde. Their only fault was that they did not finish the game off when they had the chance to do so. As a result, when Ferran Torres grabbed one back for Barcelona, it set up a nervy last ten minutes or so.
Ultimately though, Rodrygo would make it 3-1 from the penalty spot to seal the win and send Real Madrid three points clear at the top of the La Liga table.
The result leaves Xavi under some pressure, as he sees his side chasing Real Madrid in La Liga while they are on the verge of being eliminated from the Champions League group stage for the second year running.