Real Madrid were able to scrape past rivals Atletico Madrid in a 2-1 Champions League win at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday. Goals from Rodrygo and Brahim Diaz gave Real Madrid a minute lead going into the second leg.
Here are three observations from the win:
Not all heroes wear capes
Being Fede Valverde is the hardest job in Europe, but it makes the manager’s job much easier. That is how you can describe the Uruguayan midfielder’s talents. Stepping in and making the right-back position his own, so much that it is almost natural , It felt like he has been playing in that position for years.
That, shockingly, was not even the most impressive thing about Valverde’s performance. It is the fact that he played through injury, coming up like a wounded hero in a movie that everyone wanted to see fight for them, and did it so admirably. He got the assist for the first goal and just had a relentless performance that cannot be praised enough.
According to reports from Spain, Valverde had a muscle tear and was willing to risk playing just because the team needed him. That is something you don’t get from most players. That is also something you should not need from anyone, but the fact that he stepped up and gave a performance like that while being injured shows a lot about his character and even more about how good he is as a football player.
I really hope Valverde gets his much needed rest at some point — hopefully in the game on the weekend — but he will inevitably play some more before he is able to fully recover.
Luka Modric, better than fine wine
It is not a lot that Modric did on the pitch that got so much appreciation. It was not a sprint from the opponent’s box into his own to win the ball back like he did against Bayern. It was not a game-winning goal like he scored against Granada a decade ago. It was not a match-altering assist from the outside of his boot.
What he did was control the match elegantly. Prior to his introduction, Real Madrid were clearly struggling. Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni were at the heart of the pitch, but only the latter was able to perform well. Camavinga was poor on the night. He gave away possession cheaply on multiple occasions, and his presence was doing more harm than good in terms of ball retention.
Modric coming in just calmed things down. It helped out the players at the back, and brought out an even better version of Tchouameni. Modric did not do much because he did not need to do much, he just had to be there and keep possession, and he did it perfectly.
There was a huge difference between the Real Madrid of before and after Modric, and that is one asset that they have lost with the injury of Dani Ceballos. Hopefully, this is one of the reasons why they would keep Modric for another season. He may not be able to do this for a full 90 minutes of every game, but he can provide exactly what Real Madrid need in the dying minutes.
Brahim Diaz, workhorse
Brahim scored a majestic winner that gave Real Madrid some breathing room against their city rivals, but there were more things from his performance that were genuinely impressive, especially given the context.
Brahim is not a central midfielder, but at so many points in the game, he almost had to play like one. Replacing Jude Bellingham is no easy task — you have to give everything in all phases of play and on every patch of grass on the pitch — but he did it as well as anyone could. He won the ball deep inside his own half on so many occasions.
He looked lively, and even though some of his dribbles went for a bit longer than they should have, the Moroccan international still did a lot on both ends of the pitch, which was important to Real Madrid.
Aside from the goal, Brahim won six of his ground duels, made 50/53 passes, four interceptions, three tackles and a clearance. That is something not many people appreciated about his game, but the goal changed a lot of perspective.