The immortal Luka Modric! Real Madrid midfielder earns a standing ovation from Atlético Madrid fans

Age is just a number. If you ever doubt this saying, look at Luka Modric’s performance and you will understand. the 36-year-old footballer has been written off by many, but this season he is once again delivering absolutely fabulous performances. So much so, in fact, that he earned a standing ovation from the fans of Atlético Madrid, one of Real Madrid’s biggest rivals, in the city derby.

When Luka Modric won the Ballon d’Or in 2018, he was at the absolute peak of his powers. He dominated the Champions League for the third time in a row with Real Madrid, which he contributed to with incredible performances. He then took the Croatia national team all the way to the World Cup finals in Russia.

But then Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid, and the Royal Club suffered a bit. Players who had won everything they could seemed to have lost motivation and everyone’s performance dropped rapidly, Modric not excluded.

Before last season, even Zinedine Zidane was already counting on Luka Modric as a substitute, his place in the starting line-up was taken by Federico Valverde and from the beginning of the season, the Croatian footballer really only took the field from the bench.

But around the middle of last season, Valverde got injured and Modric grabbed his chance by the armpits. His performances belied his advanced age and he has remained in the starting lineup.

And he has defended his position under new coach Carlo Ancelotti. President Florentino Pérez has extended his contract by a year for his performances and thanks to the Croatian magician’s recent performances, another extension is on the cards.

The CKM trident, i.e. Casemiro – Kroos – Modric, which conquered Europe in 2016-2018, is dominating once again. The Brazilian bulldog will clear space in front of the defence, while Kroos and Modric will ensure that Real Madrid are in control of the game and create plenty of chances.

Luka Modric put in a grandiose performance in Sunday’s derby against Atlético Madrid. The 36-year-old had 94 touches with the ball against the reigning La Liga champions and got to a 90% pass success rate. Of his 9 long balls, 6 were successful, 4 of his 5 dribbles were successful, he had 13 duels on the ground and won 9 of them right away.

He was fouled twice, took the ball away from his opponent twice and made two successful defensive saves. But his performance cannot be expressed only in numbers, he was really dominant on the court.

So much so that even the opposing fans had to appreciate it. Even one of their biggest rivals. And Modric didn’t even make a substitution, he deserved a standing ovation during the game.

With a few minutes to go, Modric came back excellently, took the ball away from the Atlético players, dispossessed them with a neat tackle and played forward. At that moment the whole Bernabéu stood up and applauded Modric, even the Atlético Madrid fans joined in.

Source: Livesport, Twitter