Real Madrid News
Barcelona legend hails Real Madrid veteran as ‘one of the best midfielders’ ever
Speaking in an interview with AS, former Barcelona midfielder and club legend Andres Iniesta has hailed Real Madrid veteran Luka Modric as one of the best players ever.
Modric, 37, is still going strong despite his advanced years and is performing at the top level week in, week out. The Croatian international continues to remain an integral part of the plans under manager Carlo Ancelotti, even though he is theoretically in the twilight years of his career.
This season, it has often been seen that Modric leaves pitches with standing ovations from the crowd irrespective of which stadium he is playing at. This is similar to what happened with Iniesta during the final phase of his career.
When asked if he sees any similarities between himself and Modric, the current Vissel Kobe midfielder replied: “We are players with different profiles but at the same time similar in terms of position on the field, conception of the game, and handling the ball…
“He is one of the best midfielders there is and will ever be. He is a reference for his team and it is not easy to spend so many years at a club like Madrid making a difference.”
The Barcelona great then addressed the comparisons between the legendary midfield trio involving himself, Xavi and Sergio Busquets and that of Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro.
“That Madrid trident is one of the best that has ever existed. They have won many titles and without a doubt, they are one of the best tridents, just like us,” Iniesta said.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup winner also stated that Karim Benzema was the right person to win the Ballon d’Or 2022 award, saying: “The one who wins it is always the just winner.”
It hasn’t been a good week for Real Madrid, who look all set to relinquish their Spanish league title to arch-rivals Barcelona come the end of the season, following a narrow defeat to the Blaugrana at the weekend.
However, as Real Madrid enter the international break, there is some positive news for Carlo Ancelotti and his men.
As reported by Toni Juanmarti, Barcelona look set to miss out on their two star players in Ousmane Dembele and Pedri due to injury, ahead of the upcoming second-leg semifinal tie against Real Madrid, in Copa Del Rey.
Real Madrid are heading into this game with a 1-0 defeat in the first-leg, meaning they must beat Barça with a two-goal margin in order to book a place in the final. The absence of both Pedri and Dembele, to that end, could be a major boost for Ancelotti.
Pedri, who was expected to return to full fitness for the second leg, has suffered a relapse. It has set his return back to three or four weeks late, meaning the youngster will not return until the April 23 tie against Atletico Madrid.
The situation is not much different for Ousmane Dembele. The explosive attacker is recovering slower than expected and though he was tipped to return in the league game against Real Madrid this month, he remains a major doubt for this Copa Del Rey tie.
However, Barcelona did register a narrow victory over Los Blancos even without these two individuals, so the task is definitely cut out for Ancelotti and his men as they look to exact revenge against the Catalans in Copa Del Rey next month.
Allen Sibanda
November 1, 2022 at 3:59 pm
Iniesta is one of the greatest players in football but Luka Modric I can say he is the greatest midfielder I have ever seen, his dribbling skills, ball distribution, movement off the ball and even his goals are just something out of this world. He is fast and very decisive when he has the ball.
Zaharaddeen
November 1, 2022 at 7:53 pm
What inieasta have said is nothing but the truth