Luka Modric is a Croatian footballer who plays for Real Madrid and captains the Croatia national team. Know everything about the midfielder’s rivals.
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Luka Modric is lauded as one of the best midfielders to grace the football world. He is also regarded as the greatest Croatian footballer ever. He started his career at 18 while playing for Dinamo Zagreb after being a part of his hometown club. Following certain loan spells with a number of clubs, Luka Modric signed a contract with Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in 2008. Five seasons later, in the summer of 2012, he joined the Spanish giants – Real Madrid. There he became an integral part of the team – similarly winning three consecutive Champions League titles from 2015–16 to 2017–18 under the stewardship of Zinedine Zidane.
So far, the Croatian has a total of 17 major trophies to his collection – including four UEFA Champions League titles, two La Liga titles, one Copa del Rey, and three FIFA Club World Cup titles. Moreover, he even bagged the title of “Best Midfielder” in 2017 and 2018. Besides, he even won the Ballon d’Or award, outdoing both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Internationally, he has played for his country on many occasions like – the UEFA European Championship as well as the FIFA World Cup. His heroic efforts led his country to the 2018 World Cup Final, where he ended up receiving the Golden Ball award for best player of the tournament. Now let us have a look at his rivals in world football.
No doubt Andres Iniesta is a legend. His style of play – balance, ball control, pace, and skills have made the La Masia product into one of the greatest midfielders in the world. Barcelona’s number 8 has abilities such as attacking and defending, creating space and moving the ball wide-forward. These qualities have all contributed to his greatness. And therefore, there is no point as such to compare him with any other midfielder. The same goes for Modric. But in his time today, he should be termed as one of the best ever midfielders in entire Europe or the whole world. Modric has definitely come a long way and established himself as one of the best. The two have come up against each other several times in the El Clasico and have outdone each other numerous times, highlighting the genius of the two players.
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Kevin De Bruyne is another talented midfielder. He is often considered a “complete” footballer. His great wonders have helped Manchester City claim several titles down the years. The Belgian usually operates as an attacking midfielder for his team. It is why he is ahead when it comes to setting goals for his team. As mentioned above, Modric is a great force in the Madrid midfield – who has impressive numbers when comes to opening the goalscoring doors for his team. While De Bruyne operates further up the pitch and hence enjoys a greater collection of goals and assists, Modric operates as an orchestrator running the show from midfield.
Modric has a brilliant ability to read the game thoroughly. He is more of a playmaker – creating a menace for the opponents and turning the game in his team’s favor. His contributions to the team’s success haven’t been talked about enough. Though, it is evident that he is at the peak of his career at the moment. Paul Pogba on the contrary is a definition of a box-to-box midfielder. He is of course great with the ball but lacks the vision of an overall playmaker on the pitch. However, because Pogba is much younger than the Croatian and laden with skill, he has years ahead of him to develop. But in conclusion, it is proven that Modric is dominant as his gameplay speaks for itself.
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